All language subtitles for Backlash.The.Murder.Of.George.Floyd.2025.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

This programme contains scenes which
some viewers may find disturbing,

very strong language from the start

and discriminatory language
which some may find offensive

Before they drive off,
he's parked right here.

It's a fake bill from the gentleman.

Is the driver in there?

Which one?
That blue one over there.

All right.

Oh!

Let me see your hands.

Hey, man. Stay in the car.
Let me see your other hand.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
Let me see your other hand!

Please, Mr Officer. Both hands!
I didn't do nothing!

Put your fucking hands up right now.
I didn't do nothing.

Let me see your other hand.
All right. What did I do, though?

What did I do?
Put your hand up there!

God, man!
Put your fucking hand up there!

Jesus Christ, keep your
fucking hands on the wheel.

I got shot. I got shot before.

Keep your fucking hands
on the wheel. Yes, sir.

God dang, man!

Man, I got shot the same way,
Mr Officer, before.

OK. Well, when I say,
"Let me see your hands,"

you put your fucking hands up.
I am so sorry, Mr Officer.

You got him? Man! Dang, man!

Put your hands on top of your head.
Man, Mr Officer.

What's your first name?

His name is George Floyd.

What is it? He's a good guy.

George Floyd, she said.

Man, let me calm down now.
I'm feeling better now.

Keep walking. OK, cop,
can you do me one favour, man?

No. When we get to the car.
Let's get to the car, man.

Please, man. Don't leave me
by myself, man, please.

I'm just claustrophobic, that's it.
Well, you're still going in the car.

When I watched the video
of George Floyd...

Don't do me like that, man.
Get in the car!

OK, can I talk to you, please?
If you get in this car, we can talk!

I'm claustrophobic.
..what I saw was evil.

I can't breathe!
I can't take that, man! I can't!

Let me lay on the ground.
I want to lay on the ground.

It was reminiscent of a lynching.

Argh! Argh! Argh!

Aargh!

But, after that, we saw millions
of people around the world

take a stand with
the Black Lives Matter movement.

A global uprising against injustice.

Please, man!
I can't fucking breathe!

Come on out. I appreciate that.

Because when police continually
oppress and violate people's rights

and abuse them and murder them,
at some point...

..there is going to be an uprising
when people have had enough.

It was like a flash point.

EXPLOSIONS

The echo of that pain.

Like this groundswell
of final truth.

They're actually understanding

what the world looks like
through our eyes.

I need you to understand now
how painful this shit is!

There was clearly a shared
sentiment amongst all of us,

which was, change has to happen.

2020 felt like
a window of opportunity,

one moment to challenge
the status quo...

Former Minneapolis police officer
Derek Chauvin

has been charged with murder.

..but it led to a huge backlash
across the world.

Attempting to challenge
the status quo,

there was always going to be
discontent, because at that point

there's, like, large swathes
of defensiveness and denial.

REPORTER: His report concluded
that there is no proof

of institutional racism.

And our country
will be woke no longer!

Did the movement fail?

What the hell happened?

CHANTING: Whose streets?
Our streets!

Whose streets? Our streets!

So, on May 25th of 2020,
Memorial Day...

..I was home with my family
in Minneapolis

and I just happened to open Facebook

and I noticed there was
a Black Lives Matter post

which said that the police
had choked someone

to the point that they died.

Normally in Minneapolis, people get
shot and killed by the police,

not having their throats crushed,

so I was definitely curious
about the situation.

I'm a civil rights attorney
and one of the spokespersons

for the Black Lives Matter movement
here in Minneapolis.

So, if people in the community
had various issues,

I would contact Chief Arradondo.

When I saw her number,
I answered it.

"Did Minneapolis Police
kill someone today?"

And he said, "No, Miss Nekima."

We had a death,

but I believe it was
a medical-related death.

Well, that's not what the community
is saying happened.

"People are saying the police
choked this person.

"Have you seen video of the
incident?" And he said, "No."

I said, "You need to see
some video immediately."

Please...

Mr Officer...

When I saw that video,
I wanted my eyes...

..to not see what I was just seeing.

Please! I can't breathe!

To see the life...

..being essentially choked
out of someone

who kept saying,
"I can't breathe"...

..was one of the most devastating
things that I've witnessed.

REPORTER: Breaking news this
morning, there's a man who is dead

after an encounter with police.

A video posted to Facebook shows an
officer with his knee on his neck.

We're not showing that video
just yet.

We want to make sure that man's
family is fully notified.

I remember...

..the television had a black guy
laying on the ground.

MUFFLED: Once you got him down,
man, let him breathe.

I can't breathe.

My heart was breaking for that dude.

And my sister calls me...

..and that's when...

..I realised that...

..I was sitting there
looking at my nephew die.

REPORTER: A video showed an officer
pressing his knee into the neck

of the man who was later identified
as George Floyd.

His favourite pastime
was shooting hoop in the 'hood.

You know, he's at the park right
here now in the Fifth Ward, balling.

It just brings me back, man,
to the days where...

..where we'd shoot ball and laugh.

I was bigger than he was,

but after 15 or 16, I still treated
him like he was a little dude

but he was a little bit taller.

George was my big sister's baby boy.

I watched him grow from
a little baby to a grown man.

I loved that dude a lot.

I'm never going to be able to
look at his beautiful smile.

He don't get to see his baby
grow up.

That day on May the 26th...

..that's when the world changed.

That video played every second
of the day,

all over the world.

REPORTER: Minneapolis gehen fur
George Floyd auf die Strasse.

REPORTER: George Floyd,
un ciudadano negro,

a manos de un policia blanco...

REPORTER: An investigation
is under way in Minneapolis

into the death of another black
man in police custody.

This was a moment that we
could not turn away from.

Yeah, just, like, devastating.
Just devastating.

With the additional uncertainty
of the pandemic,

it was just a sense
of absolute helplessness.

We're all in our homes,

our window into the world
is our phones or our screens.

Of course, we all want to live
in a world where everybody's life

feels sacred and feels valued,
but a huge part of that

and an undeniable step towards that
is for black lives to matter.

I think I watched the beginning
of the clip many times.

I've never finished it,
because for me...

..there was a barrier
which I couldn't get over,

which was I don't want to witness
someone's life leave them.

I've seen quite a lot
of films like that.

Like, videos of something
like that occurring.

I just thought, "Oh, God,
another one of those videos."

It was a familiar,
horrified feeling.

You know, unfortunately, for me,

this is not the first video
I've seen like this.

It's been going on for too long
and it isn't just in our lifetime,

it's been going on long before us.
This is a systemic problem.

Racism isn't only going on
in America.

You know, the UK is not innocent.

The UK has a track record
of state-sanctioned violence

in police custody,
which is even more insidious

because it's all behind
closed doors.

There's no cameras in there.

These cases aren't exclusive
to the American experience.

It threw me back to, like,
rah, are we still...

..at the bottom of this thing?

OK, OK, OK, so when
are we going to change...

..everything that makes
this possible?

REPORTER: George Floyd is dead.

The scene of the confrontation
with police

outside this grocery store
is now home for a memorial.

People throughout the city,
throughout the state,

expressing outrage over
the actions of one officer

and the inactions of others.

They treated my brother
like a scumbag.

They left him there to die. They
act like he was a piece of trash.

Later that afternoon,
I headed to City Hall.

Chief Arradondo was going to
make a decision

of whether he was going to fire
one or more of the officers.

As Chief of Police,

I do not have a say in criminal
charges against employees.

We do not investigate our own
in matters like that,

but what I am responsible for
is their employment.

He made the announcement, which was
unprecedented, that he was planning

to fire all four of
the police officers involved.

It was something that the department
had never experienced before.

Some officers, I'm sure,
were devastated.

These officers have family members,
they have loved ones,

but I also have to look
at the victims.

We all have to be held accountable.

Making sure that those officers
weren't just fired

but that they were criminally
charged, that became our focus

later that afternoon when we held
the first demonstration.

CHEERING

REPORTER: People who are here
for the protest

have actually joined a march towards
the Minneapolis Police Department.

The officers involved in that
incident worked at Third Precinct.

CROWD: George Floyd!

The Black Lives Matter movement
began

long before George Floyd was killed.

In 2012,
we had started to organise

after the killing of Trayvon Martin

at the hands of George Zimmerman.

The verdict, we the jury find
George Zimmerman not guilty.

Our streets! Our streets!

We wound up holding some protests,
but there wasn't a movement

until the police
killing of Mike Brown.

..police officer shot and killed an
unarmed 18-year-old, Michael Brown.

Police say the officer had been
on the force for about six years.

Folks from around the country
actually descended upon Ferguson.

Don't shoot! Hands up!
Don't shoot! Hands up!

That is what I would say
really started

what we know as the movement
for Black Lives.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

And now the murder of George Floyd
would not be swept under the rug.

Prosecute the police.

No justice, no peace!

We decided to march
to the Third Precinct.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

By Wednesday morning,

the site of the Third Precinct
had become a focal point.

No justice, no peace!

Prosecute the police.

If you're ever experiencing
civil unrest,

in your ear, there's this crescendo.

It's building.

By Wednesday,
it had reached a fever pitch.

They're really out here
hurting people.

I knew that any small mistake

could be deadly.

The protest was largely
peaceful at that time,

but suddenly...

..the police emerged
wearing riot gear,

using tear gas on protesters.

I thought I was going to vomit.
I literally couldn't breathe.

They're worried about rocks
being thrown at a building,

when we're worried about human lives
being taken away

without any accountability.

No.

You don't have the luxury of time.

Mistakes are going to be made.

I did direct our officers
to deploy gas

once a secure fence
was breached.

You're doing the best you can...

..but it was a crisis that I had
never, ever experienced before.

Burn it!

The crowds amassed
and they made their way in there.

And within minutes,

the first flames started to come
from inside the building.

Wow, that's the precinct.

And I told Dispatch that
we've lost the Third Precinct.

This is the community's response

to George Floyd being murdered
by Minneapolis Police.

What's his name? George Floyd!
What's his name? George Floyd!

Police have largely withdrawn
and it's pretty much lawlessness

right now across
large parts of the city.

Donald Trump initially called
the video of Mr Floyd's death

shocking but went on Twitter
to describe the protesters as thugs,

adding that "when the looting
starts, the shooting starts".

Are you concerned that you might be
stoking more racial violence

or more racial...?
No, no, not at all.

MAGA loves the black people.

Minnesota,
they've got to get tougher.

The situation is
incredibly dangerous.

Minnesota National Guard
is deployed.

This is the largest civilian
deployment in Minnesota history.

The force that we have out there now
is about three times larger

than the one in the '60s, which was
the largest during the race riots.

I'm here to announce that former
Minneapolis Police Officer

Derek Chauvin is in custody.

But the question is whether
that will be enough to quell

the rage that was ignited here and
is now spreading across the country.

The trauma being expressed
right now, it's the result of years

and years of racial injustice
and discrimination.

Martin Luther King, he says, "A riot
is the language of the unheard."

I think that black people were
feeling that there was very little

that they could do to challenge
injustices within the system,

until the Black Lives Matter
movement began.

CHANTING: George Floyd!

Thousands of people have
gathered across central London

to protest against the killing
of George Floyd in the biggest

gathering of people since lockdown.

Am I next?

That is the question I'm asking
myself. Regardless if I'm here

in the United Kingdom, am I next,
because of my skin colour?

Black life matters.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

The George Floyd protests started

on the streets of Minneapolis
on Wednesday.

By Sunday, they were with us
here in Trafalgar Square.

This level of engagement,
is it about solidarity

with fellow citizens in America,
or is it about change here?

I don't... Yeah,
I don't think it's either/or.

There are parallels,
there are significant parallels,

disturbing parallels between
the black British experience

and the African American experience.

There was a young man that
I was in primary school with.

His name's Julian Cole.

He was accosted by five officers
outside of a nightclub,

had his neck snapped.

Guess how many convictions
that debacle ended in? None.

There's been no jail time
doled out for police.

But you're not putting America
and Britain on the same footing?

I mean, I heard

that very moving,
horrific account,

but our police aren't armed,
they don't have guns.

It's not the same, is it?

If it's not the same,
then you have to explain to me

why Julian Cole is not an exception.

Black people are twice as likely
to die in police custody

as their white counterparts in
this country, so this is very real.

The need for change is overdue
and I hope this is a learning point

for many people who
think along the lines

that you just expressed.

At the time George Floyd happened,
I've had politicians say to me,

"Why are you worried?"

You know, "It's not
British policing."

But I know, cos I've been
in policing for a very long time,

that things like that
happen in this country too.

That is the reality

and it's very much the real
experience of the black community.

Julian happened to be my friend

and when I heard about George
Floyd's murder, yeah, I immediately

thought about Julian, because
it was all to do with the throat.

Do you know what I mean?

Yeah...

I used to work with Julian in
a shoe shop back in, like, 2013,

and we were cool.

Played football for the FC semi-pro
and he was a sports science student.

He was a good...
youth of good fortune.

So, when I found out about his case,

yeah, I was...I was shocked still.

I was...I was...

..like, what? What do you mean,
his neck's broken?

What do you, like...?

Julian Cole's arrest
was captured on CCTV.

He'd been restrained outside
a nightclub in Bedford

and bouncers
and the police were involved.

Officers dragged him into a van.

The officers sacked today had
all lied that he'd been able

to move his legs.

He was initially taken to a police
station, rather than a hospital.

And this is how he is now.

He's in a permanent
vegetative state.

I'm not afraid to say Feds
literally broke my bredrin's neck,

then lied on one
of their statements.

It's too much, you know
what I'm saying?

It was...it was too much, bro.

In a situation like this,
you shouldn't be abusing your power.

All that's happened to you
is that you've lost your job.

I don't think that's enough.

You would think that
if you broke somebody's neck,

you'd be at the mercy of the law.

Any of us go outside and do that
right now to somebody,

we are spending the rest
of our lives in jail.

What the misconduct panel have found

is that the officers acted

without the honesty and integrity

that I would expect them to,

and nor did they conduct
the welfare checks

that I would have wanted them to.

Cases such as Julian Cole challenge

that notion that justice
in the United Kingdom

treats everybody fairly,

no matter what the colour of
their skin.

They're searching my car for drugs,
even though I told them what I do.

They checked me
and they've not found anything.

I can get stopped once a week.

You detain me because of what?

Because of perception, because you
perceive me to be something I'm not.

There's also a series of stories

where police brutality had
been alleged,

cases like the Dalian Atkinson
killing.

NEWSREADER: Police were called
to his father's home.

A Taser was discharged
and Dalian Atkinson was restrained.

He died shortly afterwards.

The cop kicks him in the head
so hard

there's an imprint of his boot
on Dalian Atkinson's head.

A lot of black people can relate to

George Floyd having
the life squeezed out of him.

Not many of us can relate to
the sharp end of the violence,

but I think most of us can relate to
being looked at with suspicion,

being looked at like
you're a threat,

being chased out of establishments,
being asked to move on.

Police, prisons.

These are institutions that
exacerbate inequality,

institutions that have pinpointed
and terrorised us, you know?

What's his name?
CROWD: George Floyd!

What's his name? George Floyd!
What's his name?

NEWSREADER: In Minneapolis,
the demonstrations continue.

Calls are growing for the three
other officers involved

to also be brought to justice.

Lock up all four! Lock up all four!

Lock up all four!

I am your President
of law and order.

If a city or state refuses to take
the actions that are necessary

to defend the life and property of
their residents,

then I will deploy
the United States military

and quickly solve the problem
for them.

We must never give in to
anger or hatred.

If malice or violence reigns,
then none of us is free.

Go to the Instagram pages of
some of your favourite celebrities

and you'll see nothing
but a black box

where a photo or video should be.

Major corporations have
flooded social media

with messages for
the Black Lives Matter cause.

Quite quickly it started to become
a social media event,

something to jump on.

Like, "Oh, my God, this is awful."

Tell me about how awful
this is for you.

I didn't really think
I could explain it in...

..in a text message.

A recent update for Google Assistant
now has a custom answer

to the question,
"Do black lives matter?"

GOOGLE ASSISTANT:

SIREN WAILS

Do not stay here!

If you are here for the protest,

make your way towards Hyde Park,
please!

Arriving at that protest, you know,

as someone who has the dichotomy of

both experiencing racism,
but also having privilege,

because of my skin tone
and proximity to whiteness,

I felt like I had to show up.

I guess I didn't know what
to expect,

but your pain had a place to
be expressed.

No justice!
CROWD: No peace!

No justice! No peace!

No justice!
No peace!

No justice! No peace!

George Floyd!
CROWD: George Floyd!

George Floyd! George Floyd!

Once I had that megaphone,
it was like,

"Right, this is the job,"

and protesting was like a job that
I took seriously.

George Floyd! Big up
yourselves from everything...

CHEERING

It was one of the most magical days,

because it was a huge turnout.

Just felt like the whole park was
covered with people,

and this sense of the fact that we
are all coming from the same place

and we all want the same thing.

There was this energy, like,
we were just there,

listening to each other,
and that kind of felt cathartic.

I want to thank every single
one of you for coming out.

This is very important.
This is very vital.

Suddenly, this sort of energy
in the crowd, like, kind of changed

and I could suddenly hear
this voice.

Black lives have always mattered.
We have always been important.

We have always...
It was John Boyega.

Every black person understands
and realised the first time

you were reminded that
you are black. You remember...

You could cut the air with
a knife, like, it was...powerful.

SHOUTING

I need you to understand now how
painful this shit is.

I need you to understand how
painful it is... Guys, guys, guys...

..to be reminded every day
that your race means nothing.

And that isn't the case any more.

That is never the case any more.
We are going to try today.

We are a physical representation
of our support for George Floyd.

Stand on this,
let's stand on this, stand on it!

We are a physical representation
of our support for Trayvon Martin.

I'm speaking to you... I'm speaking
to you from my heart.

Look, I don't know if I'm going
to have a career after this,

but no, fuck that, bruv.

INDISTINCT SHOUTING

Fuck that!

John, you got this.

You got this, you got this!
You've got this!

I'm so grateful to him.

His speech went a long way.

Black boy from Peckham
and he's using his power

and his influence in a way that's
really going to benefit people.

NEWSREADER: Star Wars actor
John Boyega

is joining the call for racial
equality after George Floyd's death.

I just think it's really cool that
John Boyega,

star of Star Wars,
went out and spoke.

I just think this is super powerful.

My guy is shelling and I love
the fact that he's shelling

and he's creating waves.

There's not really as much racism
or violence as there used to be,

so there's no reasons to
protest any more,

so they have to kind of make
things up

and exaggerate and blame
things on racism,

even though racism
wasn't proven to be involved yet.

CROWD: No peace! No justice!
No peace! No justice!

So, I remember my editor had
given me a call.

There was a gathering
for George Floyd in Hyde Park.

The speakers encouraged people,
"Let's keep making noise,

"let's walk
towards central London."

Forget about Covid.

There are not supposed to
be any gatherings happening

anywhere in the country right now,

and there are thousands
and thousands of people,

young people, who are here today.

What I notice is groups of police
officers, on the side,

sort of following them on.

CROWD: George Floyd! George Floyd!

So, some people would start
interacting with the police.

There has always been a sense of

black people versus the police,

or racialised people versus
the police,

and how the police deal with
those communities.

So, when I see the police, I feel
threatened. I don't feel safe.

I do believe that
their presence there is aggressive.

No justice! No peace!

Those protests were
essentially about police brutality.

The BLM protests had a real impact
on policing at the time,

and I know that because I was in
all of the meetings

when that was discussed.

I was one of the National
Police Chiefs' Council's

52 chief constables.

So, Chiefs' Council that I sat on,
lots of people sitting around,

at least a third of that
council going,

"This is terrible, we've got
to do something about it."

A third didn't speak,
but I strongly suspect were...

..wanted to do something but were
nervous of the political reaction.

The political context of the time
from the Conservative Party was,

"There's a culture war here
and there's nothing to see here."

NEWSREADER: Police chiefs in the UK
offered a message of solidarity

to the protesters,
saying they too were appalled

and horrified by Mr Floyd's death,

but that didn't go down well here.

The police in the UK have killed
people

and are held unaccountable for.

Look at the T-shirt.

These are the names of people
they've killed.

How dare the chiefs of police
across the country issue a statement

saying they're in solidarity
with George Floyd.

They are disgraceful!

They have never been
accountable in this country.

How dare they use his death
as a publicity stunt!

We're out here for people in this
country that have been killed

and we will fight for our rights!

CROWD: Shame on you! Shame on you!
Shame on you!

You, you're a racist.

It was very tense.

Very, very tense.

It was just total chaos.

Do you understand why
people in this country

feel that there is enough
of a parallel to come out

and protest here in the streets
like we saw yesterday?

I understand people
are feeling very strongly

about what has happened over there,

but I would draw a distinction,
actually, between the United States

with its history, its culture,
its policing models, and ours.

I think that George Floyd's
murder brought people

out on the streets, but I think this
racialised state violence.

It keeps
happening because it's the norm,

and we don't want this norm
any more.

That's why people came out
on the streets, cos they were like,

"We don't like this norm.
This norm is wrong.

"This norm is perverse."

Just because it's the norm
doesn't mean that it's OK.

NEWSREADER: Breaking news overseas,

a major protest under way
right now in London.

A protest in London.
What's going on?

What we're seeing
here feels uniquely American.

I guess it's not.
Well, it isn't any more, Steph,

because what you're seeing is

those same protests being
mirrored around the world,

people both inspired and outraged.

This is just one example of
the protests that are happening now

and building
around the world, from Australia...

Whose lives matter?
CROWD: Black Lives Matter!

..to Paris yesterday,
where 20,000 people protested.

Black Lives Matter!

Meanwhile, back here in the US,

three other officers have
been charged with aiding

and abetting second-degree murder.

Protests in the UK feel like
they're gathering momentum.

Strength of feeling hasn't
yet diminished

and those wanting to
add their voice is growing.

I'd been seeing it build
and it's so interesting,

cos it was, like, building
on WhatsApp

and stuff.

It was very,
very community-level,

in the same way that aunties will
send you chain prayers,

do you get me?
It was coming in like that.

And then you get this sense of
I know the community's going to...

..going to really step out for this.

You just kind of feel it,
you know what I mean?

You feel it, like, and maybe that
thread gets tugged a little bit

and it...everyone's,
like, very community ready.

It felt like we were focused.

We can't get to where we want to be
if we don't do this right now.

What's his name?
CROWD: George Floyd.

NEWSREADER: It has been a day of
mass demonstrations across the UK.

Thousands took to the streets in
cities across the country

to make their voice heard,
chanting, "Black Lives Matter."

CROWD: Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

Black Lives Matter!

Black Lives Matter!

CHEERING

MUSIC: My Block
by Che Lingo

Silence is violence, no cap.

# Things I know, God forbid

# Probably would've made Jesus cross

# That's my blood, family tree

# No excuse, freedom costs

# Take the risk, make mistakes

# Pray I never repeat the loss... #

We kneel together for
eight minutes, 46 seconds.

That's the time it took for
George Floyd to die.

# Do this for my people

# Black don't mean illegal

# They don't know me... #

Earlier in 2020,
I had put out My Block.

I wrote this song for Julian.

# Frustrated
Look at how they got us in papers

# Black boy, black hood,
black trainers

# Judging the cover of that book,
no pages... #

It came from a place
of controlled rage.

I was looking for a way to be able
to say I'm frustrated

without actually losing
my composure.

# And that bird they're serving's
plateless... #

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

Black Lives Matter!

Around that same time,
we started seeing, like,

videos of people, like,
playing My Block at protests.

# No excuse, freedom costs

# Took the risk, made mistakes... #

I was grateful.

It actually is used for the thing
that you want it to be used for,

which is help amplify
the voices of people

who can't do it for themselves.

We'd managed to make
Julian Cole's situation

grab some traffic
on the internet.

This now has had
an effect beyond me.

The movement,
this isn't going to go away.

Thinking about that video of
George Floyd and that experience,

there were moments
in that period of time

where I would
just sit and hysterically sob,

just acknowledging
that things were just shit

and had been shit growing up,

and what the murder of George Floyd
brought out,

particularly when
I look at kind of, around here,

the things that my friends
and my family were saying

in my local community,
and seeing Facebook posts of,

you know, "If black people
didn't steal and loot,

"then maybe they wouldn't have
a problem," and just...

And these are people who were, like,

some of my closest friends
growing up,

and it was a really pivotal
moment for me.

I was starting to acknowledge
that I am a black woman.

Where's the one of me and Jake?

Mum was born
and raised in the Forest of Dean.

My dad is West African Senegalese.

Looking at these, there's a complete
flashback to kind of growing up.

My parents separated
when I was quite young,

so I grew up with my mum
and my grandparents

in Gloucestershire.

The school ones. I know, I just...

I mean, yeah, they're re...
They're lovely photos.

They're really cute,
but I just, yeah...

So, is there stuff about school that
I don't maybe know about?

This is my old secondary school
leaver's shirt.

It's from kind of old friends,
people I went to school with.

Right across the front of that
shirt says,

"Nigger," that someone's written.

Erm, you've got,
"I love you always, Nigs."

That was, yeah,
my nickname in secondary school.

It started off with my nickname
being Nigger

and then shortened to Nigs
in kind of an endearing term.

You've got,
"Good luck to my favourite Nig."

SHE SIGHS

"Nig nog, golliwog,
give a coon a bone

"This black bitch just
stole my phone."

SHE EXHALES

Mm.

Yeah.
PRODUCER: Are you OK?

Yeah. Yeah, no, I'm fine.

Erm...

These are all people that, like,

I considered some of
my closest friends,

that I spent every
single day of my life with,

and there's a real sadness that
that was my reality for so long.

For a group of 16-year-olds,
for this to be the product of, like,

us celebrating leaving school,

I don't know how you can argue

that we don't have an issue with
racism in the UK, looking at that.

The area I live in,
the context in which I grew up in,

the only thing that was
acceptable was to be white.

That was... That's the norm.

That's what the world here
looks like.

I just wanted to be normal,
and being white...

God, I'm going to go now...

Being white was the only thing
that was normal or OK,

and I wasn't that,
so it was kind of how do I...

Yeah, how do
I find my place in this world?

I just didn't want to be
black growing up.

That's how I spent my whole life,
you know?

The murder of George Floyd felt like
a really powerful moment...

..knowing that if it didn't happen
in this moment...

..your life carries on as it was.

Racism is happening all around us.

Take a stand.

If you are white and
you're listening to this right now,

this is your problem too.

The way it was being reported
was very, very different.

Like, basically, white people were
shocked, and they'd not really been

shocked by these events previously,

and this has happened so many times.

But this particular time, everybody,
it... Because everybody

was still and didn't look away,

it changed the way the air felt.

Even when you went outside,

like, everything felt, like,
electric.

The whole world
was in pain about this one man

and his horrible murder.

On the morning of the protest
in Bristol, I wake up with

this, like, urgency
and this sort of fire.

It's like I need to be there.

I don't think I ever actually
watched the video,

the murder of George Floyd,
but the thing that was being

talked about a lot was the fact

he was asking for his mum.

Doesn't matter, like, race doesn't
matter in that situation, does it?

That's just a human
being murdered by another human.

I actually don't know what was going
on for the average white person

in that moment, but I think
every decent human that sees

that video is going to feel
something and want to respond.

There was an outpouring
of solidarity, right?

And there was also a recognition

and a response to the fact
that the UK is not innocent.

Anybody who was in the streets,
they were carrying placards.

There was a placard said,
"Colston must fall."

The significance of these statues
here, of Colston,

are largely responsible for a lot
of the slave trade through Bristol

so they are just
blocking it off right now.

There wasn't a single person
of colour in my school

and, you know, my mum, I would
never have called her racist

but her partner, my stepdad,

he wouldn't shy away
from saying the N word.

CHEERING

And so, after the murder
of George Floyd,

I suddenly felt
like I'd been blind

and I think that's the awakening.

It's like the blindfold coming off.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

But the main thing that was
capturing my attention

was Bristol's history

with the transatlantic slave trade.

Black Lives Matter!

To have in the city centre
the Colston statue,

this awful slave trader,

a man who trafficked 85,000
African people,

to have that man glorified in the
city centre,

it says he was "the most virtuous
and wise son of the city."

I just got really passionate.
I got really angry

that this could still be
existing now.

So, we get to the statue...

Edward Colston, reviled
for his part in the slave trade.

There has been a growing
campaign in recent years to remove

Colston's name from buildings
across the city.

CHEERING

There's nothing quite like being
in a crowd, feeling the same,

and I did a bit of rigging.

I've got a rope in my bag.

Take him down! Take him down!
Take him down!

We didn't need to communicate
what was going to happen.

And I remember just having
an anger and passion

about the removal
of this abhorrent man.

CHEERING

There was this Saddam
statue-esque moment,

this cathartic moment.

To see young black men climbing
up on top of that plinth

where this slave trader
had once stood

felt like poetic justice.

That statue represents
years of oppression.

It represents years of hurt and just
a lot of hatred that has been

built up inside of us,
that we've internalised for years,

and that coming down today
hopefully signifies change.

The Colston statue,
I thought, good for them.

You know, we know
how he made his money.

So, I first heard about the Colston
statue live on social media

and my instant reaction was,
this is quite embarrassing.

I saw to me what looked like
quite middle-class white people,

essentially engaging in an act
of vandalism in the name

of helping black people, people
that they perceive of as victims.

But I actually think it makes it
harder to win over

potentially sympathetic
majorities to your cause.

Cast in bronze,
now daubed with graffiti,

one of Bristol's most famous sons.

This had begun as a
Black Lives Matter demonstration.

Removing statues
and airbrushing out history,

totalitarian regimes do that.

I just think not everything
should be taken down.

So, how many statues
are we going to destroy?

How many buildings do we deface
to make things fit a narrative?

I know, but how can you address
the systemic racism

when you have a giant statue
honouring them?

But not that way.

It was just crazy.

So, at the time,
you have Nigel Farage arguing

about BLM
being a Marxist movement.

Black Lives Matter is a far-left
Marxist organisation,

whose chief aim is to defund
and close down police forces

so that we would live
under anarchy... Nigel?

Oh, you're full of such
utter nonsense!

Talk shows, radio shows,
Jeremy Vine, all sorts going back

and forth about the merits or not of
something like Black Lives Matter.

And if you say you don't
condone criminal damage,

why are you then justifying it
and saying,

"But criminal damage is OK
providing you feel strongly

"enough about the issue"? Because
that's exactly what you're saying.

That's exactly what I'm not saying
and if you'd heard me,

Carole, what I said every single
time was, I do not condone violence.

This was a turning point
at which suddenly a statue

changes people's minds to think
it's not civilised behaviour.

That's enough.

You can't erase history
and you haven't solved anything.

So what are they going to do?

Take the pyramids down?
Cleopatra's Needle down?

The Coliseum?

It actually became, I think,

one of the most divisive
moments of that summer.

The history of the British Empire
has been brought into focus.

This was sprayed next to the
statue of Winston Churchill.

To many, he's a hero,
but he is a controversial figure.

SHOUTING

I will not support or indulge
those who break the law

or attack the police,
or desecrate public monuments

and so I must say clearly that
those who attack public property

or the police,
who injure the police officers

who are trying to keep us all safe,

those people will face
the full force of the law.

This hooliganism is
utterly indefensible.

There is no justification
for attempting to disrespect

the Cenotaph or vandalising
the statue of Winston Churchill.

Does the Home Secretary recognise
that there's structural

inequality, discrimination
and racism in our country?

Does the Home Secretary
recognise that people want to see

action from this government?

Denise emails, "If a slogan
about lives mattering is needed,

"then surely All Lives Matter is
the only one acceptable to all."

Of course all lives matter,
like, point out the obvious,

but we're here to talk about lives

that are historically
harmed and lost.

All Lives Matter is a slogan used
malevolently by the far-right

to undermine
racial justice movements.

All lives should matter,
not just one, right?

Yeah, exactly,
you fucking spotty-faced bastard.

They were waiting for an
opportunity. And defacing Churchill,

well, you know,
all bets are off now.

Why have they come here?
Why have you not moved them on?

Why are they coming antagonising us?
They're antagonising us.

No, no, not everybody.
Fuck off!

This was the direct backlash.

The energy being thrown
back the other way.

Burnley Football Club spoke out

against the flying of a White
Lives Matter banner at their match

against Manchester City yesterday.

White Lives Matter is being used
as turning this into white v black.

I think that the pandemic was
a really significant factor...

Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land!

..and that pandemic confinement.

The fabric of society has changed
completely, right,

because of the lockdown regulations.

People are trying to make sense
of it, people are scared by it,

people are angry about it.

The police are weak.
Boris Johnson doesn't give a shit.

This is our country
and we will not stand by

and watch our monuments
and memorials be vandalised.

At the same time,

I don't think progressives were
great at responding to some of those

feelings and some of those worries
and some of that anger,

and I think that that left
a lot of space open

for the right to capitalise.

Ah, man, I'm just watching it
and I'm getting so fucking angry.

Just thinking, how the fuck can you
let that happen in our capital city?

BLM, you've done more to break
down race fucking integration

in this country than
anyone's tried to do.

Much more than the
National Front ever done.

Look what you've done!
Look what you're doing!

The divide that you're about
to create in this country

is fucking going to be
unrecognisable, and you've done it.

Anyway, next Saturday,
I'll see you all in London.

What were you planning on doing?
Marching up to London.

Stop anyone attacking any statues.

That weekend, the word went around,
which was, "Don't go out,"

and so a lot of people didn't
go out, including myself.

I didn't protest that day.

Well, there's going to be
trouble, ain't there,

between black and white people?

Travelling on the underground...

G'wan, boys! Get out, go on!

..people were just there,
staring at one another.

You know what?

You've had your
five minutes of fame,

now fuck off and get out the train.

You could just feel the tension.

Go on.

LAUGHTER

Get that? Yay!

Right, good for you! Well done!

One of my friends sent me
the rant from Tommy Robinson.

Tommy Robinson was going to start
a counterprotest with the EDL,

English Defence League.

EDL! EDL!

We just knew, my friends and I,
that we needed to be there.

There were going to be young men
from the community going down there

to face the far-right
and it wasn't going to be pretty.

At a time when the whole world
is standing up against racism,

if we're not going to protest
because racists are turning up,

it sets a bad precedent.

We just felt we could help
to defuse some of it, you know?

Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land,
Eng-er-land!

Well, this is the scene
live right now.

Get on your knees!
Get on your knees for me.

What we know is that this
is a coalition, really,

of far-right groups
like Britain First

and also the Football Lads Alliance.

Well, let's go to some live pictures
now of Trafalgar Square.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

I just knew it wasn't going to end
well and I just wanted black people

to stay as far away
from all of that as possible.

The atmosphere here
has turned suddenly toxic.

In Trafalgar Square, we see the
far-right guys throwing bottles,

racially abusing BLM protesters.

And what appeared to be a small
group of far-right sympathisers

broke through
into Trafalgar Square.

Oy-oy-oy-oy!

There were skirmishes happening,
clashes, fights.

Things escalating
and getting out of hand.

And then what happened was
the police sort of chaperoned

everybody over towards
Waterloo Station.

Fuck EDL! Fuck EDL!
Fuck EDL! Fuck EDL!

This is actually Black Lives Matter
that's causing this.

It's Antifa, the anti...they're
fascists.

The antifascists. They're the reason
why people are here today.

And we are getting reports now

that there have been several clashes
at Waterloo Station.

The EDL far-right guys,

they run off and
they leave one guy.

He looks concussed and he's, you
know, sort of staggering around.

Some BLM supporters
start to descend on him.

My friends and I,
we rushed over there.

I wasn't just going to stand
and watch it unfold.

You know, I had the power to do
something about it

right there and then, and I did.

Amidst so many ugly images,
so much hatred and so much division,

there was one that offered hope.

Two hours afterwards,
I had a message from my sister.

It said, "Bruv, is this you?"

And she said, "It's going viral."

That's when I realised
this is a big story.

So I said to her, like,
"Don't tell Mum."

I didn't expect to get caught
on camera, full stop. You know?

I mean, I guess
I should have known better,

but I didn't expect it
to go viral.

Not globally, anyway.

When I saw the photo,
in that moment my mind said,

"Look, I'm going to treat
this man like a human

"because that's how
I want to be treated.

"I can see this guy's injured.
Let me help him out."

That humanity, I think, is the core
note at the heart of everything

that happened, and that's
what makes it a symbolic image.

Living in rural Britain,
you experience a lot of racism

and we don't talk about diversity,
we don't talk about difference.

But now that was happening,
I felt really inspired by that.

It gave me a bit of hope that
I have moved through my life

not being vocal enough and here's
an opportunity for me to do so,

and I can do it somewhere where

nobody ever talks
about these things.

So I text my friend, Eleni,
shall we do a protest in the forest?

And she was like, "Oh, my God, yes."

So, yeah, it started off
from a text.

So we called the Town Clerk

and then I think within
like an hour or so,

we were given the go-ahead to run
a demonstration from Bathurst Park.

And we were like,
"Right, what's next on our list?"

We kind of went through
all these things we needed to do

and we were like, "Great,
we make a Facebook group next."

Like, we start advertising.

We'll just invite all of
the people that we know.

You know, people are going to think,
"Great, this is brilliant,"

like, "Let's get on board,"
and people started sharing it

and, you know, we got quite a lot
of traction quite quickly on the

Facebook group. And we were like,
"God," like, "This is going well."

Forest of Dean, Black Lives Matter
demonstration.

But then, there is a problem because
it started quite public outrage.

A petition had been created trying
to oppose the demonstration

going ahead, for the concerns
around Covid,

and then the Council
sent us a letter

and they'd made the decision
to cancel the event.

"I feel I can
speak for all of the Council

"and the overwhelming majority
of Lydney residents to say that we

"all support the underlying aims
of the Black Lives Matter campaign

"and therefore indeed the wider
sense that All Lives Matter.

"I'm calling on the organisers
to show due respect for Lydney

"and that indeed 'All Lives Matter'
to cancel or at least postpone

"your event as it demonstrates
respect for all lives."

So, yeah, I think
we just put a post up that said,

"This event is now cancelled.

"Please see the letter
attached below."

And within about an hour
of posting it,

someone from the Guardian
reached out.

The Council had been
backing the celebration

and then the sentiment changed
and one councillor, I think,

resigned in protest.

And it's just...it's a real
microcosm in some ways

of what was unfolding
in the rest of Britain,

one side very impassioned, and the
other feeling threatened by it.

I think we must have spoken
to the Guardian that evening

and then it was picked up
by the BBC.

"Our top story tonight..."
and I was just like, "Oh, my God!"

Welcome to BBC Points West
on this Friday evening.

Our main story tonight, the town
divided over Black Lives Matter.

You know, racism is not something
that is recognised in this area.

You shouldn't go around accusing
people that don't agree with you

of being racist.

Yeah, I mean, it's...

..a poor choice of words at best.

It's offensive at worst.

It speaks to how much of a problem
this is in the area

that I live in, because that's
your councillors that have said

that "All Lives Matter"
three times in a letter.

If you're going to underline
three times "All Lives Matter",

which is a statement
that's used by the far-right,

you've already aligned yourself
not on the side of racial justice.

The Council said the event was
causing anxiety among residents,

but the organisers believe
the rejection has racial overtones.

It was just everywhere and I think,
you know, as soon as a news

outlet posted something on their
Twitter and their, like, website,

I was getting a kind of barrage of
abuse, comments, overt racial slurs,

threatening to follow me home,
or that they wanted to kill me.

There was websites that were set
up at that point, that still

exist now, that are like,
KhadyGueyeisacunt.com.

So, these are from the
KhadyGueyeisacunt.com website.

"As atonement for the slave trade,
we should take immediate steps

"to make things right for those
who don't feel welcome.

"We can start by selling this cunt
back to the Africans.

"A sort of reverse slave trade,
if you will."

Someone else said, "I would fuck
it as long as she called me Master

"while I was banging away, then drop
it off in deepest, darkest Africa."

I just don't unders... I can't
get my head round it and I mean,

I suppose, in a sense,

I suppose that it's so awful

that you kind of almost
block it out.

Which I do understand,

but I think the privilege you get to
turn away from it that I don't get.

I will never not be black,
and I think...

I know, cos I know
part of who I am is

I'm not very good at challenging,

cos you remember you said to me,
"You need to do better, Mum."

Sounds so brutal
when you put it like that.

No, but it was tough, it was tough.
Yeah.

I was really shocked
when you said it to me.

It was really tough

and I was in a really
dark place, I think,

at that moment in time.

But I think the Council,

they did face a lot
of backlash for that letter.

They had a vote and they voted
to change their decision

and the protest was allowed
to go ahead.

You know, people were accusing
the Council, the Mayor, councillors,

of being racist, and that isn't
a good look for a local council,

so I think a lot
of their change of heart

was around the optics.

On the day of the protest,
just seeing the number of people

was so supportive and I think
really acknowledging

how serious this problem is.

It was an incredible experience.

..says only white people
can fix racism.

My colour is not my problem.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Like, the racist abuse and threats,
it's been difficult, but I think,

for us, it's become so much more
than we ever thought it would be.

It was something
we were passionate about before,

but I think now it's something
that means ten times more to us.

Hello.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Black Lives...
Matter!

Black Lives...

Just being there in that moment
and watching that all play out,

it's one of my proudest moments.

Yeah, it made everything
feel worth it.

During that time, in the
middle of the summer of 2020,

the protests dwindled,
and they got smaller,

but the energy was still there,
the energy was the same.

All right, guys.

And it just felt like people
were changing

and their opinions were changing.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

Black Lives Matter!

By the time it got to the
end of June, July, everyone started

to refer to activism as, like,
this new thing now that we're all

going to be a part of,
we're all going to be activists

in some way or another.

Black Lives Matter!
Black Lives Matter!

Why are you wearing it?
You're not dressed for summer.

Cos I wear anything I want,
man, I wear anything I want.

What's wrong with you?

You're not dressed for the climate
today, it's very warm.

What do you mean, the climate?
Who...

After the murder of George Floyd
and the Black Lives Matter protest,

any incident involving the Met
and people of colour,

they were becoming viral incidents.

The other police officer asked me
where I live, where I was going.

That's also none of your business.

Yeah, I'm not...

It's none of your...
Do you understand that?

They were becoming issues
of public confidence

and there was a different level
of media interest in it as well.

For instance, the stop and search
of Bianca Williams

and Ricardo dos Santos.

Wait, wait, wait!

Why are you doing this?
What you doing?

That's my home, bro!
What you doing? I'm at home!

This is my home,
this is my...

This is the moment that British
sprinter Bianca Williams,

her partner and three-month-old baby
were stopped and searched by police.

He's just been detained
for a search.

For what? For what?
Don't, why are you touching me?

My son is in the car! OK, madam,
we're going to look after your son.

My son is in the car!
I don't want you to look after him.

My son is in the car!

So just calm down,
we'll look after your son for you.

I know all of those statistics,
and they are horrific.

And that is the exemplar
of policing, over-policing

and under-protecting
minority communities.

And it's so well known, I think it's
actually quite difficult for anyone

to argue that disproportionality,
overrepresentation in the

criminal justice system is not
an absolute fact in this country.

You're detained in a Section One
of PACE, it's a search for weapons.

We're both professional athletes,
bro.

Why don't you act like one, then?

Huh?
Act like one, then.

I don't need to act like one.
For what reason?

You're detained under Section One of
PACE, OK? It's a search for weapons.

For what reason?
I did not act suspicious.

Policing in this country
definitely has a problem,

policing both black and Asian
ethnic minority communities

when the vast majority
of the police force is white,

the majority of it is male.

It has a lack of understanding

and empathy with the issue of race.

Speaking yesterday,
Mr Johnson said that as a leader,

he could not sit back
and ignore what was going on.

The British Prime Minister
acknowledged

that much more needed to be done
to tackle the issue.

My job at the time was just
to find a way

to help the government
to respond.

The discussions with
the Prime Minister were mainly

focused on, how do we respond?

And the Prime Minister's concerns
around the strength of feeling

amongst the public,
particularly the black population,

and he is wondering what he as Prime
Minister could or should be doing.

Boris Johnson's announced
that a commission will be

established to examine all
aspects of inequality in the UK.

We have to look at discrimination
in the education system,

in the criminal justice system.

We have to look at all
ways in which it affects black

and minority ethnic groups.

A new cross-governmental commission
to look at what is going on,

and what I really want to do
as Prime Minister

is change the narrative so it's...

..so we stop the sense of
victimisation and discrimination.

We stop the discrimination,
we stamp out racism.

Now I'm in this building

and there are people who have very
strong views on race relations,

institutional racism, the use
of the term. Very strong views.

They think, you know, the race
relations industry has gone too far

and there's overreach,
and, you know,

they don't speak for the majority,
etc.

I have a slightly different view,

because I feel like I don't have to
agree with everybody

that I serve, and so,
my feeling was,

it makes a lot of sense
to take stock.

Let's see what the evidence says.

And so there was myself,
and Munira Mirza,

the Head of the Policy Unit at the
time,

and Kemi Badenoch,
a junior minister.

The three of us were responsible

for trying to put together
this commission.

And then the Chair is...

Appointment of the Chair was where
things were maybe slightly more...

..challenging. For me.

My view was we needed somebody
that would be willing

to follow the evidence.

But for my other two colleagues,
there was only one option,

and that was...that was Tony.

Dr Tony Sewell. He has
previously rejected evidence

of institutional racism in
schools as "flimsy",

and has said that black boys
were being held back

because of what he called
"their over-feminised upbringing".

Well, I was very clear.

I said, "Tony's a good guy,
but he shouldn't be a chair

"because of the things he's
said in the past."

Do you think you were hired
to do this job

to confirm the views
that already exist in Number 10?

There's a kind of perception
out there that this report

is going to be some kind of

right-wing whitewash about...around
race.

You know, there are issues
around crime and policing but,

on the whole, the picture is, for
those areas, is one of improvement.

But my other colleagues, their worry
was the Chair that was going to,

for example, conclude that the
UK is institutionally racist,

would that be palatable for...for
them,

or...or even for the administration?

I really wanted us
to have a fresh start,

commissioners who haven't done
this sort of review before.

There must be no jumping to
conclusions,

and I think that that's absolutely
what we're going to get.

For me, it was very important
that I had nothing to do with...

..whatever happened next.

The Prime Minister's senior
adviser on ethnic minorities,

Samuel Kasumu, is to stand down.

News of his departure
comes the day after

the publication of a
government-commissioned report

on race that has been heavily
criticised by campaigners.

PROTESTERS: Black Lives Matter!

After all the calls
for black lives to matter,

the answer came that all
the accounts we've heard

of discrimination do not tell
the tale of a racist country -

that there is no proof
of institutional racism in the UK.

It points to social class,

geography and family set-up

as more important factors in life
than race,

arguing that the UK should be held
up as a model

for other white-majority countries.

This distinguished group
was tasked with reviewing

inequality in the UK,
and they focused on education,

employment, crime and policing,
and health.

The report does not deny that
institutional racism exists

in the UK. Rather, the report did
not find conclusive evidence of it

in the specific areas it examined.

I'm a big defender
of the Sewell Report.

I think people will say that the
government was trying

to put forward their own agenda.

Now I think, actually, the
government was attempting to find

the real answers to the problems
that were being raised.

I mean, what I can say is that

we don't need a commission
or a review to tell us

that suspicionless stop-and-search
should be repealed.

They're just letting
the government get away with

looking like the government
is doing something

and taking you seriously
without actually doing anything.

The report came
out around the time of April Fool's.

Morning, guys.
Morning. Morning, my slime.

How's the race report going?

Er, yeah, good. We've been having
a bit of a brainstorm.

A BAME-storm.

THEY LAUGH

You know, if you have to do a race
report,

it means there's a problem with
race,

if you have to commission
a report.

And we've decided to be more
inclusive

by renaming Big Ben, "Tall Tunde."

BIG BEN CHIMES AND DISTORTS

April Fool's!

You try and create laughter
so that the real pain

and the actual bitterness
of the issue,

you're sort of shielded against it.

Er, no, but we've done the report
and we found that there is

no evidence for institutional
racism in Britain.

Ah!

HE LAUGHS

April Fool's!

Yeah, that, that one is true.
Yeah, that is.

HE LAUGHS WEAKLY

What?

It truly felt
like an April Fool's joke.

You know, it's a huge
slap in the face

of everyone who has had, you know,

real, life-defining racism
in their life here in Britain,

to be told it doesn't exist.

REPORTER: Once again, the eyes
of the world are on Minneapolis,

the city braced for the trial
of the former police officer

accused of murdering George Floyd,

tense in the knowledge this will be
a defining moment for America.

Today starts a landmark trial.

There will be a referendum
on equality and justice for all.

No justice!
ALL: No peace!

No justice! ALL: No peace!

Almost a year after the world was
shocked by the video

of George Floyd's death, the police
officer seen kneeling on his neck

is standing trial in Minnesota's
first trial to be televised live.

No justice! ALL: No peace!
No justice! ALL: No peace!

For many, this trial will be
a defining moment

for race relations in America -

the outcome uncertain
and the stakes high.

Chauvin is in the courtroom.

The family goes in this court
seeking justice

for all of us in America.

There was a lot of uncertainty,

whether or not a jury would see
value in the life of George Floyd

and would see criminal conduct
at the hands of Derek Chauvin.

There is no guarantee that
because an officer kills someone,

that it's caught on camera,

that there are witnesses,

that there will be justice
and accountability.

Have you made a decision, uh, today,
whether you intend to testify

or whether you intend to invoke
your Fifth Amendment privilege?

Er, I will invoke my Fifth Amendment
privilege today.

The defendant has the right
not to testify.

I just sat there
and just stared at him.

And I seen him with my...his
knee on my nephew's neck.

I seen my nephew
begging for his life,

and he's just sitting there.

He's destroyed a lot of lives
because of his act of aggression.

We plan to prove to you
beyond a reasonable doubt

that Mr Chauvin was anything
other than innocent.

It's a case that's going to be
important to America

and our discussion around systemic
issues and around equal justice.

We're going to ask that you find
him guilty of murder

in the second degree,

murder in the third degree
and second-degree manslaughter.

It was important,
in the opening statement...

You will hear him say,
"Tell my kids I love 'em."

..for the jurors to feel
the humanity.

You will be able to hear Mr Floyd
saying, "Please, I can't breathe."

"Please, man, please."

And I figured not much
needed to be said.

You just see it for yourself.

Please, the knee on my neck,
I can't breathe shit.

You will hear Mr Floyd
as he's crying out.

You will hear his voice get heavier.

You will hear his words
further apart.

You will see that his respiration
gets shallower and shallower.

Well, you got him down, man.
Let him breathe, at least, man.

I can't breathe.

Those videos were critical.

Critically important.

When the ambulance arrived,
he was not responsive

and the defendant had to know what
was right beneath him.

And when you see it,

just sort of that feeling
that you get,

that understanding that something
terribly wrong is happening,

that was something that we wanted
to get out right away.

George Floyd begged
until he could speak no more,

and the defendant continued.

And so we settled on the theme of
"believe your eyes".

This case is exactly what you
thought when you saw it first,

when you saw that video.

It is exactly that.
You can believe your eyes.

It was important the jury believe,

because we knew that that
was our best evidence.

And it's very difficult to convict
a police officer of wrongdoing.

Think of the Rodney King case -

an assault captured on video,
with an acquittal.

We, the jury, find the defendant not
guilty of the crime of assault.

Because they were somehow able to
convince this jury

that they didn't need to believe
their eyes.

And we really wanted to make
sure that that didn't happen here.

This wasn't policing.

This was murder.

The defendant is guilty
of all three counts.

All of them.

The defence was first
trying to argue

that this was a justified
use of force.

I felt that Derek Chauvin
was justified,

was acting with objective
reasonableness,

following Minneapolis Police
Department policy.

Derek Chauvin did exactly what
he had been trained to do

over the course of
his 19-year career.

And that is why
we wanted Chief Arradondo

to be particularly compelling
and brave.

Chief Arradondo, he had to make
the decision on whether or not he,

in some ways,
broke that blue wall of silence.

When do you believe...or do you
have a belief as to when this...

I felt that this...was a moment...

It has to be objectively reasonable.

..where there was a moral
obligation to speak out.

So I did.

Once Mr Floyd had stopped resisting,
and clearly when Mr Floyd

was no longer responsive,

to continue to apply
that level of force -

that, in no way, shape or
form, is anything that is by policy.

It is not part of our training,

and it is certainly not part of
our ethics or our values.

Mr Floyd was pleading that one
person wearing a uniform

that day would come to his aid.

And we failed him.

REPORTER: Prosecutors say Chauvin
betrayed his badge

when he used excessive force.

Because human behaviour is
unpredictable.

Chauvin's lawyers have argued that
Floyd's death was really

an overdose caused by the fentanyl
found in his blood.

The toxicology, the fentanyl
and methamphetamine,

all of those combined to cause
Mr Floyd's death.

Did some of the drugs in his system
have something to do with it?

Did it play a role?

Maybe, but certainly was not
the actual cause of his death.

What today remains your opinion
as to the cause of death?

That's cardiopulmonary arrest,

complicating law enforcement
subdual restraint

and neck compression.

GAYLE KING: ..with closing arguments
all set today

in the trial of former
police officer Derek Chauvin...

The State has failed to prove its
case beyond a reasonable doubt.

No justice!
GROUP: No peace!

PRESENTER: After they hear closing
arguments, Jamie,

what are the next
steps for the jurors?

They will be sequestered.

That means no contact
with the outside world.

And how sweet it is to
come out on the day

where we may turn this country
around with a guilty verdict.

INDISTINCT CHANTING

PROTESTERS: All three counts!

All three counts!
All three counts!

When the verdict was going
to be read...

Please, be seated.

Members of the jury,
I understand you have a verdict.

..I get into the courtroom and one
of the family members was there.

I just remember thinking to myself
as I saw him, "What in the world

"am I going to tell this person if
the verdict comes back not guilty?"

SOUND ON TANNOY:
Members of the jury,

I will now read the verdicts as they
will appear in the permanent records

of the Fourth Judicial District.

The State of Minnesota plaintiff

versus Derek Michael Chauvin,
defendant.

Verdict, count one,
court file number 27, CR2012646.

"We the jury in the above entitled
matter, as to count one,

"unintentional second-degree murder
while committing a felony,

"find the defendant guilty."

CHEERING

"We, the jury, in the above entitled
matter, as to count two,

"third-degree murder, perpetrating
an eminently dangerous act,

"find the defendant guilty."

CHEERING

"Verdict, count three,
second-degree manslaughter,

"culpable negligence,
find the defendant guilty."

Guilty! Guilty!

CHEERING

I cried tears of joy and
thankfulness.

We were triumphant.

I feel vindicated but I also feel
emboldened, because today

the Black Lives Matter movement
served notice on you that,

going forward, if you take our
lives, there will be consequences.

Say his name! George Floyd!
Say his name! George Floyd!

I didn't cry, I didn't holler, I
didn't scream, I didn't do anything.

I knew that that was just the right
thing, so in my mind, OK,

we can move on from this.

Yeah, this is done.

This part's done.

We knew that the verdict was not
going to ever

bring back George Floyd.

We're adjourned.

But it was a symbol of hope
that we can fight back

against an oppressive system
and get some measure of justice.

I know people who have been
killed by the police.

I've never seen an officer
get that much time.

It is a kind of relief

and a releasing for all the people
who didn't get to hear "Guilty."

And then,

keeping with the George Floyd
case...

REPORTER: In convicting PC Monk,

the jury rejected his claim that
he'd used reasonable force.

..you see the conviction
of a British cop...

REPORTER: Anything to say to the
family, Mr Monk?

..for killing Dalian Atkinson,
the former footballer.

It felt like a huge moment.

Benjamin Monk's the first police
officer convicted

of manslaughter while on duty
in England and Wales in 35 years.

In terms of what's shifted with
the police, in terms of race,

police potentially understand
themselves

as being under far more scrutiny.

But Dalian Atkinson, that verdict
of manslaughter is...

It's a rare one.

Two officers are concerned here,

and one of those officers
is now in prison. And I think

it can help to reinforce
this sort of "one bad apple"

perception of police violence,
and therefore the norm is OK,

when, actually, the norm
of policing is the problem.

It's not a few bad apples

and simply locking up officers
that get caught going too far.

It's not going to stop it
from happening again and again.

So, the thing about policing is,

policing only ever changes
when there's been a catastrophe.

So, after George Floyd,
I went to Chiefs' Council

in December 2021 to say to them,

"You have got to use this moment to
admit we are still

"institutionally racist, apologise
for it

"and then launch the plan saying

"you're going to do something about
it."

And, in January, I was told the
Chief Constables

had voted against me.

And that's when I decided
to retire.

Well, one possibility...

..is that it doesn't matter enough

to the people
who can make it change.

They took a man's potential
away from him,

and that is nobody's fault
but theirs.

And the fact that no-one was held
accountable for it directly...

..I just don't think that's fair.

Everything always feel fragile.

And I think that was a moment,

and there was a moment where we
took charge of the narrative,

and look how resentful people
have been about it.

Like, "How dare they?" Yes.

"How dare they
say that they matter?" Mm.

There's quite a lot of that,
I feel, in the last few years.

There's quite a lot of, like...
The eye rolling.

"Isn't this over?"
It's like, "You tell me."

How does that make you feel?

Really pissed off.
Frustrated and exhausted.

And angry. It pisses me off.
It makes me angry.

The backlash is about ideas
and about an understanding

of what norms we are expected
to accept, you know?

But the authoritarian lean towards

attempting to shut down these
conversations now,

I just feel like you can't really

put the feathers back
into the pillowcase.

At the end of the day,
like, the minds have been changed.

Backlashes don't erase legacies.

I think it's about recognising
how much that moment in time

impacted so many people, but I
think my personal experience is

the severity of that level of
racism has got significantly worse.

I'd been out with some friends.

I was approached by a man
who I didn't know.

It quite quickly moved into,
you know, "Where are you from?

"Where are you really from?"

You know, "Black people will
never be British."

I think the phrase he used was, erm,

"Pigs that are born in stables
don't grow up to be horses."

And then, yeah, he came
back 20 minutes later with a gun

and a knife
and pointed it in my face.

We've ended the tyranny
of so-called diversity,

equity and inclusion policies,

and our country
will be woke no longer.

We have not ever been able
to escape this notion

that we go three steps and then
we're pushed ten steps backwards.

We've stopped all government
censorship

and brought back
free speech in America.

It's back.

CHEERING

There is one person that
President Trump should pardon

from federal charges forthwith.
That person is Derek Chauvin.

Elon Musk commented on X,
"Something to think about."

There will always be forces that
will seek to diminish us

and stifle us and keep us in our
place,

but resistance requires
that we rise up.

Any black person can put themselves
in that situation and think,

"What if that had been me?

"What if that was my husband or my
brother, or my uncle, or my father?"

And if this could happen to
George Floyd

under these circumstances, over
an alleged counterfeit $20 bill,

it could happen to any of us, under
any range of circumstances,

and if we don't stand up,
speak up and fight back,

it could very well
happen to us next.

To discover more about the power
of protest slogans

and the reactions that follow,

watch bonus content from the experts
at the Open University.

Scan the QR code on screen or go to
bbc.co.uk/backlash

and follow the link
to the Open University.

# Look, black ain't just a single
fuckin' colour, man

# There's shades to it

# Her hair's straight and thick,
but mine's got waves in it

# Black is not divisive

# They been lyin' and I hate the
shit

# Black has never been a
competition, we all make this shit. #