02 April 2021
MLB Commissioner Robert Manfred announced Friday that the 2021 All-Star Game will be moved out of Atlanta due to Georgia's law curbing voting access.
What he's saying: "Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box," Manfred said in a statement.
- Manfred said the decision was made after "thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views."
- He added that a new host city and details about the All-Star Game will be announced "shortly."
#MLB announces they are moving the All-Star Game and @MLBDraft out of Atlanta. Here is Rob Manfred’s full statement on the decision. pic.twitter.com/q3Bh5zOOfJ
— Michael Baron (@michaelgbaron) April 2, 2021
Editor's note: This a breaking story. Please check back for updates.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.