May 30, 2020

While the world was succumbing to the grips of the Covid-19, the United States was in the throws of a cultural revolution spurred by racial inequality and police brutality. On April 24, 2020 Mike Ramos, a 42-year-old Black and Hispanic man, was shot and killed by police in Austin, Texas. He was unarmed. On May 25, 2020 George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was arrested after a store clerk alleged he used a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. During his arrest Floyd was pinned to the ground by several officers while former police officer Derek Chauvin, 44-year-old White man, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds forcing Floyd to beg for breath. Floyd suffocated to death. The stories of Floyd, Ramos and many others caused mass protests to erupt across the country, led widely by Black Lives Matter, with activists and lawmakers calling for reform in law enforcement and racial inequality.

______________________

These photos were taken in Austin, Texas as protesters encompassed the APD Headquarters and ultimately took over I-35.