Minnesota has now banned the knee-on-neck restraint, which was used by police officers to kill George Floyd, among other police accountability measures that have been introduced in light of the recently Black Lives Matter protests.
In a wave of substantial changes to the state’s criminal justice system, Minnesota has now banned chokeholds and other similar training that instructs officers to see all encounters with the public as ‘inherently dangerous’.
The state Senate this week approved these new measures by 60 votes to 7 after it passed its house of representatives by 102 to 29.
This news comes as a victory for Black Lives Matter protesters who have been campaigning for more accountability from the police following the violent killing of George Floyd on May 25.
This week saw a ‘Strike for Black Lives’ demonstration, in which 20,000 workers in 160 cities walked out in protest to highlight the plight of workers in healthcare, fast food, transport and construction.
Over 60 trade unions and social- and racial-justice organisations supported the Strike for Black Lives, which received international support, including from Britain’s Bakers, Food & Allied Workers’ Union, the McStrike campaign and War on Want.
