The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS’ Ambassador to the United States Sidney Collie yesterday said all of the Bahamian consulates in America are closely monitoring the mass protests that have spread across the nation after an African-American man was killed while being detained by police officers in Minnesota.

George Floyd’s death sparked nationwide protests against police brutality and excessive force used on unarmed black people. Bystander cell phone footage caught Mr Floyd’s last moments as a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, while other officers knelt on his back. Mr Floyd repeatedly gasped “I can’t breathe” before he died.

“All of the consulates spread across the United States, which include Miami, Atlanta, the consulate here in Washington and the consulate in New York, as well as the honorary consul in Los Angeles, Texas and Chicago are monitoring the situation very closely since the killing of George Floyd a couple of days ago,” Mr Collie told The Tribune.

“All of those areas that I mentioned now have curfews starting in the evening (that extend) throughout the night as a result of the demonstrations and protests, some of which, have turned deadly.”

Mr Collie said officials are mostly concerned about the well-being of Bahamian citizens currently residing in America.

“All of the missions, including the embassy in Washington, DC, our primary concern while the state of disruption and disturbance is going on, is the welfare and safety of all Bahamians,” he said. “But in particular, Bahamian students who are scattered all over the country. To date, we have had no report of any Bahamians being impacted and we continue to monitor the situation.”

In Tampa Bay, Florida, a weekend of violent protesting has forced the city’s mayor to institute a 7.30pm to 6am curfew in an attempt to quell the rioting and looting that has taken over the area.

Hershall Hoyte, a Bahamian who has been living in Tampa for 15 years, describes the riots as “a whole other ball game”.

“A lot of stuff has been happening with the police killing black people and stuff like that, but this time Americans took it to heart and they’re basically saying enough is enough,” he told this newspaper. “That’s why there’s a lot of rioting and they started burning up all the police cars and stations.”

Mr Hoyte said he believed the nature of George Floyd’s death was the final straw for a lot of African-Americans.

“The video showed officers kneeling on a person while he was telling them he couldn’t breathe and his head and stomach was hurting. The officers looked like they didn’t give a crap about it and people watched George Floyd fade away and die live on video. That hit people hard,” he said.

A day after his death, Americans flooded the streets of Minneapolis, where he died, in what would spiral into a week of violent rioting and protests. The heated protests, fuelled by the Black Lives Matter movement, would quickly sweep across the entire nation, as groups organised demonstrations in their respective cities to advocate for justice for Mr Floyd.

However, protest organisers have said their demonstrations are mostly peaceful, and have accused outside forces of hijacking the movement to start violence and looting.

Major cities like New York and Washington, DC, reported mass destruction and chaos unravelling in their cities as a result of the protests. The same could be said for Tampa, where businesses were looted and destroyed and a gas station was set on fire.

Police have also been accused of using excessive force to try and quell protests and have been using tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse crowds.

“It’s different from when it happened and you hear it from a second party who tells you what happened, but when you watch it live for yourself it hits differently and that’s why people took it to a whole other level,” Mr Hoyte said.

“That’s why they’re vandalising places and beating up police officers and all that different stuff.

But there are some people in the protests who are pretending to be protesters, but they’re using it as an excuse to vandalise stores and steal. That’s why there’s so much mix up that’s going on right now.”

Describing some of the things he saw, Mr Hoyte added: “I was heading home and about 15 police cars were shooting past me heading in one direction and a firetruck was going the opposite direction. So the firetruck was going somewhere that was burning and the police cars were out of control. It was just crazy on Sunday. I think they had about three or four huge groups of protestors, so they were all over the place running up and down trying to take control of the situation.”

Still, while Mr Hoyte said he empathised with the cause, he did not plan on being a part of the protests.

“Personally, I feel like protesting doesn’t do anything,” he said. “I’ve seen it happen too many times before. They protest and you see this whole big thing about it for two weeks and after that, it fades away and everyone acts like it never happened. So after I keep seeing that, I don’t even pay attention or get involved in that because it doesn’t change anything.

“But I still feel like sometimes you have to fight fire with fire and that’s the only way this is going to stop. They’re going to have to start fighting and that’s what’s happening now. A lot of them said enough is enough, and now, you may see a change because people are not holding back anymore. Even the white people are actually standing up and fighting back. Before, it was all black people, but now it’s actually white and black people united together.”

Another Bahamian, who has been living in Ft Lauderdale for 35 years, said he chose to take part in a demonstration in his city because as a black man living in the US the same thing could have happened to him

Speaking about Mr Floyd’s death and the resulting riots, he said: “I have two sons and I already applied for both of them to come over here and that’s why I’m participating. This happened four years ago with Eric Garner and who knows when it’s going to happen again.”

The man, who asked to be identified as Mr Sands, said he marched with other protesters in Ft Lauderdale on Sunday. He said as they demonstrated, some of the protestors were gassed.

“We was marching and heading into a certain area, but the policemen cut it off trying to control where the protest would go. That’s when they dispatched the gas canister and I got caught in it. I thought it was just a little smoke, but it was strong, I couldn’t see and my throat was very itchy. It took about ten minutes to wear off.”

Still, when asked whether he believed their efforts were in vain or would contribute to positive change, he said: “With this one I see a spark. I’ve lived in the States for 35 years and I’ve never seen this before with riots in every city. I talked to a lot of friends and it looked like his (Floyd) death really touched a nerve. It’s definitely deeper than all the previous protests that I’ve seen.”

Protests have also spread to London, Europe, New Zealand and Canada. Crowds were seen outside US embassies chanting “I can’t breathe” and holding signs that said Black Lives Matter.

The fired officer who knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Protestors have called for the other three officers involved to face charges.