ESC calls for justice in George Floyd case

The Emancipation Support Committee of TT (ESCTT) has added its voice to the universal demand for justice in the case of George Floyd. It has called on the US government to listen to the voices of Americans of conscience.

The ESCTT extended its condolences to the family of Floyd and members of the community where he lived. It expressed outrage at the cold-blooded way he was murdered by four policemen. It said it stood in solidarity with its African-American brothers and sisters in North America and other Americans who have aligned themselves with their cause.

The committee said African-Americans were risking their lives to demand that all the policemen involved in the murder of Floyd be charged and prosecuted, and to demand the arrests and prosecution of other police officers involved in extra-judicial killings of unarmed African-Americans and other people of colour. It said, beyond that, protesters were demanding an end to the systemic racism that disadvantaged all people of colour in the US.

By Wednesday, all four officers involved in the death of Floyd had been charged by law enforcement authorities in Minneapolis with murder-related offences.

The ESCTT condemned the callous incitement of US President Donald Trump of the US police and military to "brutalise" and "criminalise" Americans for standing up for justice. It said that was not a new phenomenon, as US history was one carved out of violence against the indigenous peoples, African American communities, families, and other minorities. Violence that has continued from enslavement through the Jim Crow era and into the period of the fight for civil rights.

The ESCTT said it was time for a sustained effort to eliminate the deadly cancer of racism that is so deeply rooted in the culture and institutions of American society.

The committee said it stood in solidarity with the many voices of its brothers and sisters in North America and the Diaspora, the voices of many individuals and organisations in TT, the Caribbean region and all voices of conscience around the world who are crying out for justice.

“As we face these recurring challenges we are reminded of the words of our Caribbean scholar and revolutionary thinker Frantz Fanon when he said, 'We revolt simply because for many reasons, we can no longer breathe.'”