29 October 2020
The U.K. Labour Party has suspended its former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, after a watchdog report found that the party failed to properly take action against allegations of anti-Semitism during his time in charge.
Why it matters: It represents a strong break by Keir Starmer, Labour's current leader, from the Corbyn era and one of the party's most persistent scandals.
The state of play: The U.K.'s Equality and Human Rights Commission found that Labour was "responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination" linked to anti-Semitism, per the BBC.
- Its report found "a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it."
- It also found that Corbyn's office had "politically interfered" on 23 separate occasions regarding the anti-Semitism complaints.
What happened: After the report's release, Starmer caller it "a day of shame for the Labour Party" and vowed to implement a "culture change."
- Corbyn issued a statement saying that "the scale of the problem was ... dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media."
- Labour then announced Corbyn's suspension, pending investigation, "in light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them."
- Corbyn vowed to "strongly contest" his suspension.
The backdrop: Beyond Labour's wider anti-Semitism issues, Corbyn became personally involved in the scandal in 2018 when it emerged that he had expressed support for a London mural that featured a host of anti-Semitic tropes in a 2012 Facebook comment.
- The furor expanded amid the discovery of Corbyn's membership in multiple Facebook groups that feature virulently anti-Semitic posts.
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.