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Amateur Videos Are Increasingly Forcing US Police Accountability

Rob Garver

   WASHINGTON - Fires raged in Minneapolis Thursday night and protests
   broke out in major cities across the United States as the videotaped
   death of George Floyd while in police custody became the latest example
   of how ubiquitous phone cameras and social media have combined to
   become a powerful mechanism of accountability for alleged mistreatment
   of minorities by both police and private citizens.
   The Minneapolis Police Department originally had put out a press
   release saying that Floyd, a 46-year-old African American who died
   Monday afternoon, had experienced a "medical incident during [a] police
   interaction."
   But a video captured by a bystander showed Floyd face down in the
   street in handcuffs, begging to be allowed to breathe as a Minneapolis
   police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
   After the video went viral on social media, the four officers on the
   scene, including the one pressing Floyd to the ground, were fired
   Tuesday. Investigations have been launched, including one by the FBI,
   that could lead to criminal charges against them.

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