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Three days after George Floyd died with a Minneapolis police officer choking off his air, another black man writhed on the tarmac of a street in Paris as a police officer pressed a knee to his neck during an arrest. Immobilization techniques where officers apply pressure with their knees on prone suspects are used in policing around the world and have long drawn criticism. One reason why Floyd’s death is sparking anger and touching nerves globally is that such techniques have been blamed for asphyxiations and other deaths in police custody beyond American shores, often involving non-white suspects. (Leicester, 6/3)

Kaiser Health News: Police Using Rubber Bullets On Protesters That Can Kill, Blind Or Maim For Life

In cities across the country, police departments have attempted to quell unrest spurred by the death of George Floyd by firing rubber bullets into crowds, even though five decades of evidence shows such weapons can disable, disfigure and even kill. In addition to rubber bullets — which often have a metal core — police have used tear gas, flash-bang grenades, pepper spray gas and projectiles to control crowds of demonstrators demanding justice for 46-year-old George Floyd, who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, while other officers restrained his body. (Szabo, 6/3)

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he has directed the LAPD to “minimize” its use of rubber bullets when dealing with peaceful protesters. “I think that we’ve seen less of any of those tactics and I hope that we can see the most minimal if not zero of those tactics,” he said.He mentioned that an officer suffered a fractured skull and that officers needed to make peaceful protesting possible. (Oreskes, 6/2)

As demonstrations against police brutality roil the country for a second week, protesters across the Bay Area continue to put their bodies on the line, weighing the risk of injury or exposure to the coronavirus against continuing to tolerate the status quo. The risk of personal harm now extends to inhaling tear gas, which four Bay Area cities have deployed multiple times since Friday — in Oakland, Walnut Creek, San Jose and Santa Rosa. (Scott, 6/2)

Nurses treating coronavirus patients have attended multiple protests over the killing of George Floyd to act as medics to protesters hit with tear gas and pepper spray. Clips have circulated on Twitter of nurses in numerous cities providing medical assistance to Black Lives Matter protesters, including in Minneapolis, where the demonstrations began after Floyd died in police custody last week. (Budryk, 6/2)

If one element binds the demonstrations that have roiled the cities and towns of America for the last week — beyond the full-throated cry for an end to racial and social injustice — it is the nerve-jangling unpredictability: the uneasy sense that everything could change in an instant. All that has been required is the firing of one rubber bullet. The spraying of one can of mace. The tossing of one lighted firecracker. One precipitating action. (Barry, 6/2)

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has asked the Congressional Black Caucus to lead the process of drafting a legislative response to the protests that have swept the country following the death of George Floyd. House Democrats are sorting through dozens of proposals to address policing issues, including excessive use of force and racial profiling. "It is time, it is time for us to address the concerns that were being expressed by the protesters," Pelosi said at a press event at the Capitol Tuesday. "This is not a single incident. We know this is a pattern of behavior. and we also know the history that brings us to this sad place." (Snell and Grisales, 6/2)

One proposal would require police officers across the state to wear body cameras. Another would create independent boards to review police conduct in each community. And another would revoke certifications for police officers who are removed from their positions for wrongdoing, to prevent them from joining a department somewhere else. They are not necessarily new ideas — in some cases they have been languishing in the legislative process for years — but the state’s top minority elected officials united Tuesday in a call for action at a State House march and news conference, saying it’s time to enact laws that can prevent police brutality and empower those who have been disenfranchised and abused by systemic and institutional racism. (Valencia, 6/2)

Attorney General Maura Healey gave a rousing call to action on Tuesday, urging Boston business leaders to do their part in curbing the systemic racism and inequities that have prompted protest marches across the country in the past week. (Chesto, 6/2)

Several prominent Massachusetts elected officials of color, including Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, on Tuesday called for change at every level of government in the wake of protests against police violence and racism in the state and across the U.S. (Ruckstuhl, 6/2)