Troy Carter wins Louisiana special election for U.S. House seat
25 April 2021
Louisiana state Sen. Troy Carter (D) defeated his colleague, state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D), in a special election Saturday for Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District seat, a majority-Black district that includes most of New Orleans and extends into Baton Rouge, according to AP.
Why it matters: Carter, who is known for being willing to work across party lines, secured several high-profile endorsements before the race, including the No. 3 Democrat in the House of Representatives, Rep. Jim Clyburn (S.C.).
Context: The seat was left vacant after President Biden tapped Cedric Richmond to serve as the White House director of public engagement.
- Richmond and several other Congress members endorsed Carter in April.
- Stacy Abrams, the former Georgia House minority leader and 2018 Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Georgia, and LaToya Cantrell, mayor of New Orleans, both endorsed Peterson.
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.