This archive report was first published on 8 June 2020.
On June 7, 2020, the Minneapolis City Council made a historic decision to dismantle and rebuild the city's police department in the wake of the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody on May 25.
The decision came after two weeks of mostly peaceful protests across the country, with demonstrators in cities including Washington, New York, and Winter Park, Florida, demanding police reform and social justice.
George Floyd's death was captured on bystander video, which showed him calling for his mother and saying he couldn't breathe as white police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.
Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and is set to appear in court on June 8.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey opposed the decision to dismantle the police department, but supported 'massive structural reform' to address systemic racism in law enforcement.
Protests continued across the country, with thousands of demonstrators marching through the streets of Washington, D.C. on June 7, 2020.
Republican Senator Mitt Romney joined a group of Christian protesters marching towards the White House, tweeting 'Black Lives Matter' and expressing his support for police reform.
Former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Colin Powell criticized President Donald Trump's handling of the protests, saying he had 'drifted away' from the Constitution and weakened America's position around the world.
Powell, a Republican moderate, announced his support for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden in the November election.
Condoleezza Rice, a former secretary of state under President George W. Bush, said she would 'absolutely' oppose using the military against peaceful protesters, calling it 'not a battlefield.'
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus announced plans to introduce legislation in the House of Representatives to make policing more accountable, including making it easier to sue police officers over deadly incidents and banning choke holds.
Representative Val Demings of Florida, a former police chief, said 'systemic racism is always the ghost in the room' and that what was needed was 'a lot of work to do' to address the issue.
