Terry McAuliffe announces another run for Virginia governor
09 December 2020
Former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced on Wednesday he will be running for a second term as governor in 2021.
Why it matters: McAuliffe — an effective fundraiser, popular figure in Virginia politics and close ally of President-elect Biden — will immediately be the favorite to take back his old job.
The state of play: The gubernatorial primary will field a diverse set of Democratic candidates, which has prompted a number of liberal groups to oppose McAuliffe's candidacy.
- Candidates include two Black women serving in the state legislature — Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy and Sen. Jennifer McClellan — and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who is also Black.
- Virginia law prohibits a sitting governor from running for re-election, but former governors are able to run once someone else has held the job. McAuliffe served as governor from 2014 to 2018.
Go deeper: More details on McAuliffe's planned run
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.