George Floyd protests

Frequent cases of police brutality and fatal use of force by law enforcement officers[26] in the US, particularly against African Americans, have long led the civil rights movement and other activists to protest against the lack of police accountability in incidents involving excessive force. The Watts riots in 1965 were a response to police brutality during the civil rights movement, resulting in the deaths of 34 people, mostly African-Americans.[27] The 1992 Los Angeles riots and the African-American reaction to the acquittal of O. J. Simpson for murdering Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were responses to the acquittal of the police officers responsible for excessive force used on Rodney King.

Of late, the 2014 the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and death of Eric Garner in New York City (who, like George Floyd, repeatedly said "I can't breathe"). Then the 2015 death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.[28] sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. Several nationally publicized incidents occurred in Minnesota, including the 2015 shooting of Jamar Clark in Minneapolis; the 2016 shooting of Philando Castile in Falcon Heights;[29] and the 2017 shooting of Justine Damond. In March 2020, the shooting of Breonna Taylor by police executing a no knock warrant at her Kentucky apartment was also widely publicized.[30] In 2016, Tony Timpa was killed by Dallas police officers in the same way as George Floyd.[31]

Measures taken against the COVID-19 pandemic, including closure of non-essential businesses[32] and implementation of stay-at-home orders,[33] had significant economic and social impact on many Americans as millions lost their jobs and were made more economically vulnerable.[34] Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota, said he was of the opinion that people "have been cooped up for two months, and so now they're in a different space and a different place. They're restless. Some of them have been unemployed, some of them don't have rent money, and they're angry, they're frustrated."[35]

Memorial at the site of Floyd's death

On May 25, 2020, at 8:08 p.m. CDT,[36] Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) officers responded to a 9-1-1 call regarding a "forgery in progress" on Chicago Avenue South in Powderhorn, Minneapolis. MPD Officers Thomas K. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng arrived with their body cameras turned on. A store employee told officers that the man was in a nearby car. Officers approached the car and ordered George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, who according to police "appeared to be under the influence," to exit the vehicle, at which point he "physically resisted." According to the MPD, officers "were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance." Once Floyd was handcuffed, he and Officer Lane walked to the sidewalk. Floyd sat on the ground at Officer Lane's direction. In a short conversation, officer asked Floyd for his name and identification, explaining that he was arrested for passing counterfeit currency and asking if he was "on anything." Officers Kueng and Lane attempted to help Floyd to their squad car, but at 8:14 p.m., Floyd stiffened up and fell to the ground. Soon, MPD Officers Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao arrived in a separate squad car. The officers made several more failed attempts to get Floyd into the squad car.[37]

A mural of Floyd and memorial in Minneapolis at East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue on May 31

Floyd, who was still handcuffed, went to the ground face down. Officer Kueng held Floyd's back and Lane held his legs. Chauvin placed his left knee in the area of Floyd's head and neck. A Facebook Live livestream recorded by a bystander showed Officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck.[38][39] Floyd repeatedly tells Chauvin "Please" and "I can't breathe," while a bystander is heard telling the police officer, "You got him down. Let him breathe."[40] After some time, a bystander points out that Floyd was bleeding from his nose while another bystander tells the police that Floyd is "not even resisting arrest right now," to which the police tell the bystanders that Floyd was "talking, he's fine." A bystander replies saying Floyd "ain't fine." A bystander then protests that the police were preventing Floyd from breathing, urging them to "get him off the ground ... You could have put him in the car by now. He's not resisting arrest or nothing."[39] Floyd then goes silent and motionless. Chauvin does not remove his knee until an ambulance arrives. Emergency medical services put Floyd on a stretcher. Not only had Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for about seven minutes (including four minutes after Floyd stopped moving) but another video showed an additional two officers had also knelt on Floyd while another officer watched.[41][42]

Medics were unable to detect a pulse, and Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.[43] An autopsy of Floyd was conducted on May 26, and the next day, the preliminary report by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office was published, stating "no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation." Floyd's underlying health conditions included coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The initial report said that "[t]he combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death."[44] The medical examiner further said Floyd was "high on fentanyl and had recently used methamphetamine at the time of his death."[45]

On June 1, a private autopsy commissioned by the family of Floyd ruled the death a homicide and found that Floyd had died due to asphyxiation from sustained pressure, which conflicted with the original autopsy report done earlier that week.[46] Shortly after, the official post-mortem declared Floyd's death a homicide.[47] Video footage of Officer Derek Chauvin applying 8 minutes 15 seconds of sustained pressure to Floyd's neck thus killing Floyd generated global attention and raised questions about the use of force by law enforcement.[48]

On May 26, Chauvin and the other three officers were fired.[49] He was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter;[50] the former charge was later changed to second-degree murder.[51]

The day following Floyd's death, peaceful protests began in Minneapolis. Eventually, due to social unrest as to lack of accountability from both the police commissioner and police union leaders for holding police officer Derek Chauvin accountable for the murder of George Floyd, protesters and police began to clash on the streets.[52] Protests also formed in other cities across the US,[53] with demonstrations increasing each day.[53] The unrest later escalated and the third precinct police station in Minneapolis was burned down on May 28. At this time, the Minneapolis police and the union, as well as various city officials had still not arrested Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. By June, protests had been held in all US states. Protest actions were also reported in some US immigration detention centers and prisons.[54][55]

By June 3, at least 200 cities had imposed curfews, and at least 27 states and Washington, D.C. activated over 62,000 National Guard personnel in response to a majority of peaceful protests.[56][18]

In Seattle, starting in early June, protesters occupied an area of several city blocks after the police vacated it, declaring it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, where according to protesters "the police are forbidden, food is free and documentaries are screened at night". On June 10, President Trump challenged mayor Jenny Durkan and governor Jay Inslee to "take back your city," and implying, according to Durkan, the possibility of a military response.[57][58]

On June 14th, an estimated 15,000 people gathered at the steps of the Brooklyn Museum at Grand Army Plaza for the Liberation March. Sparked by frustration over the lack of visibility and media coverage over the deaths of Nina Pop, who was found stabbed to death in Sikeston, Mo., on May 3, and Tony McDade, who was gunned down by the police in Tallahassee, Fla., on May 27, Dakota drew inspiration from the Silent Parade organized by the NAACP in 1917 to organize a march for Black Trans Lives Matter in New York.[59] Along with Raquel Willis, Ceyenne Doroshow, the family of Layleen Polanco as well as the organizations Marsha P. Johnson Institute, The Okra Project and Black Trans Femmes in the Arts, the march generated widespread media attention and called for community organizing and support for Black trans life in America.[60][61]

In response to the protests, on June 17th three different police reform plans were unveiled aiming to curb police brutality and the use of violence by law enforcement.[62]

As of June 20, protests were continuing in many cities, with observations of Juneteenth.[10]

On June 19, the ILWU shut down ports on the West Coast in solidarity with protesters,[63] and the UAW also asked members to stand down for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on June 19 in solidarity.[64]

Protests over Floyd's death quickly spread worldwide. Protests in Europe, Oceania, Asia, Africa, and elsewhere have rallied against what they perceived as racial discrimination and police brutality, with some protests aimed at United States embassies.[65]

Over the weekend of June 7 and 8, surfers around the world held a "Paddle Out", a Hawaiian mourning tradition, for George Floyd and all the lives lost to police violence. Thousands observed the tradition in Honolulu, Hawaii,[66] La Jolla, Hermosa Beach and Santa Monica, California, Galveston, Hackensack, New Jersey, Rockaway Beach, New York,[67] Biarritz, France, Senegal and Australia.[68][69]

By June 9, governors in more than 30 states and Washington, D.C. had deployed the National Guard as a measure to quell the protests and riots, with over 24,000 troops being activated.[16] Most state police officers across the United States were present in dozens of cities to back up local efforts to put an end to rioting.

As of June 5, 2,950 federal law enforcement personnel from a dozen agencies, including the Secret Service, Capital Police, Park Police, Customs and Border Protection, FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, Bureau of Prisons' Special Operations Response Team, DEA's Special Response Team, ATF, and Marshals Service's Special Operations Group, have been dispatched to assist local authorities, with most of them being garrisoned in D.C.[70][71][72][73] The DEA's legal authority was specifically expanded by the Department of Justice beyond usual limits to include surveillance of protesters and the ability to arrest for non-drug related offenses.[74] In response, Representatives Jerry Nadler and Karen Bass of the House Judiciary Committee denounced the move and requested a formal briefing from DEA Acting Administrator Timothy Shea.[75]

United States President Donald Trump controversially threatened to deploy the U.S. military in response to the unrest. On June 3 he said "If a city or state refuses to take the actions necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem."[76] This would require invoking the Insurrection Act of 1807,[76] last used to quell the 1992 Los Angeles riots on May 1, 1992 by Executive Order 12804. Arkansas senator Tom Cotton also pushed for the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division to be deployed to quell the unrest, calling protesters "Antifa terrorists."[77] Cotton tweeted "No quarter for insurrectionists, anarchists, rioters, and looters."[78] However, many legal experts said this would violate the Department of Defense Law of War Manual, the ICRC, and Additional Protocol II to the Geneva Conventions.[78] Cotton later said he was using "no quarter" in a colloquial sense, but Mark Zaid and Tom Nichols responded that the legal definition of the term is a war crime.[78] Massachusetts Representative Seth Moulton said federal troops should "lay down [their] arms" if deployed in the United States.[79]

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, authorized to provide aerial surveillance "to assist law enforcement and humanitarian relief efforts" when requested, provided drone imagery during the protests.[80][81]

A remix of Childish Gambino's song "This is America" and Post Malone's "Congratulations" was used heavily by protesters sharing footage of protests and police action on TikTok.[97] Others used personal Twitter pages to post video documentation of the protests to highlight police and protesters actions, and points of the protests they felt would not be reported.[98] One example was a viral photo that appears to show white women protesters standing with their arms locked between Louisville Metro Police Officers and protesters, with the caption describing the image and "This is love. This is what you do with your privilege."[99]

Viral images of officers "taking a knee" with protesters and engaging in joint displays against police brutality, highlighted by hashtags such as #WalkWithUs,[100] have circulated widely on social media.[101] These acts have been identified by some cultural critics as copaganda, or "feel-good images" to boost public relations.[102][103][104] Official social media accounts of police departments boosted positive images of collaboration.[103] In some cases, these displays of solidarity, such as police kneeling, have been recognized as occurring moments before police teargassed crowds or inflicted violence on them.[102][104] An article in The Fader characterized these acts as public relations tactics which were being undermined by police violence, "It feels like we go past the point of no return several times each day."[103]

Cardi B used her social media to comment on the police brutality and looting during the protests stating; "Police brutality been going on even way before I was born, but it has been more visual ever since social media" and "How many peaceful protests have we seen? How many trending hashtags have we seen? People are tired. Now this [looting] is what people have to resort to."[105] Director Spike Lee posted a short film on his social media to support the protests and highlighted the deaths Floyd, Eric Garner and fictional character Radio Raheem from his film Do the Right Thing. The short uses footage of the deaths of all three men and opens with the words "Will history stop repeating itself?"[106]

Protesters in Miami on June 6

K-pop fan accounts hijacked rightwing and pro-Trump hashtags on social media, flooding trending hashtags with images and videos of their favorite artists. Users attempting to look up the hashtags #WhiteLivesMatter, #WhiteoutWednesday and #BlueLivesMatter were met with anti-racist messages and video clips of dancing idols.[107] After the Dallas Police Department asked Twitter users to submit videos of protesters' illegal activity to its iWatch Dallas app, submissions of K-pop videos lead to the temporary removal of the app due to "technical difficulties."[108][109]

On May 28, activist/hacktivist collective/movement Anonymous released a video to Facebook and the Minneapolis Police Department entitled "Anonymous Message To The Minneapolis Police Department", in which they state that they are going to seek revenge on the Minneapolis Police Department, and "expose their crimes to the world".[110][111] According to Bloomberg, the video was initially posted on an unconfirmed Anonymous Facebook page.[112] Before the video, the page posted content linked to UFOs and "China's plan to take over the world".[113]

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz speculated that there was "an organized attempt to destabilize civil society," initially stating that as many as 80% of the individuals had possibly come from outside the state,[114] and the mayor of St. Paul, Melvin Carter, said everyone arrested in St. Paul on May 29 was from out of state.[115] However, jail records showed that the majority of those arrested were in-state.[116] At a press conference later the same day, Carter explained that he had "shared… arrest data received in [his] morning police briefing which [he] later learned to be inaccurate."[117]

Despite widespread eyewitness accounts and news reports of the use of tear gas to clear Lafayette Square for Trump to visit St. John's Church on June 1, Trump claimed that the allegations of tear gas usage were fake and his presidential campaign team demanded news outlets correct their claim.[lower-alpha 2]

On June 6, the New York Post reported that a NYPD source said $2.4 million of Rolex watches had been looted during protests from a Soho Rolex store.[118] However, the store in question was actually a Watches of Switzerland outlet that denied anything was stolen.[118] Rolex confirmed that "no watches of any kind were stolen, as there weren't any on display in the store."[119]

On the night of May 31, exterior lights on the north side the White House went dark as protesters were demonstrating outside.[120] The Guardian mistakenly reported that "in normal times, they are only ever turned off when a president dies."[121] A 2015 stock photograph of the White House, edited to show the lights turned off, was shared tens of thousands of times online,[122] including by Hillary Clinton.[123] While the photograph did not depict the building at the time of the protests, Deputy White House Press Secretary Hogan Gidley confirmed that the lights "go out at about 11 p.m. almost every night."[120]

A June 12 article by The Seattle Times found that Fox News published a photograph of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone that had been digitally altered to include a man armed with an assault rifle.[124] The Fox News website also used a photograph of a burning scene from the Minnesota protests to illustrate their articles on Seattle's protests. Fox removed the images and issued an apology, stating the digitally altered image was a collage that "did not clearly delineate" splicing.[124]

False stories about "Antifa buses" caused panic in rural counties throughout the country, despite there being no evidence they exist. The Associated Press has catalogued at least five separate rural counties where locals have warned of imminent attacks, although none of the rumors have been substantiated.[125][126] As a result of the rumours, several people have been harassed,[125] including a multi-racial family in Forks, Washington.[127][125]

Some social media users claimed a man videoed breaking the windows of an AutoZone in Minneapolis on May 27 was an undercover Saint Paul Police officer; the Saint Paul Police Department denied these claims through a statement on Twitter.[128][129] Others spread images of damage from other protests or incidents, falsely attributing the damage to the George Floyd protests.[130]

Twitter suspended hundreds of accounts associated with spreading a false claim about a communications blackout during protests in Washington, D.C., or a claim that authorities had blocked protesters from communicating on their smartphones.[131] Also, some accounts shared a photo of a major fire burning near the Washington Monument, which was actually an image from a television show.[132][133]

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell noted on June 10 "historically high unemployment" prevalent during the prelude of the protests.[134]

The economic impact of the protests has exacerbated the 2020 coronavirus recession by sharply curtailing consumer confidence, straining local businesses, and overwhelming public infrastructure with large-scale property damage.[135] A number of small businesses, already suffering from the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, were harmed by vandalism, property destruction, and looting.[136][137] Curfews instated by local governments – in response to both the pandemic and protests – have also "restricted access to the downtown [areas]" to essential workers, lowering economic output.[135] President Donald Trump, after announcing a drop in overall unemployment from 14.7% to 13.3% on June 5, stated that strong economic growth was "the greatest thing [for race relations]" and "George Floyd would have been proud [of the unemployment rate]".[138] That same day reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated the unemployment rate among African Americans (covering the first two weeks of protests) was up 0.1%, rising to 16.8%.[139]

The U.S. stock market has remained unaffected or otherwise increased since the start of the protests on May 26.[140] The protest's first fortnight coincided with a 38% rise in the stock market.[141] A resurgence of coronavirus (facilitated by mass protests) could exacerbate the 2020 stock market crash according to economists at RBC.[142] The protests have disrupted national supply chains over uncertainty regarding public safety, a resurgence of COVID-19, and consumer confidence. Several Fortune 500 retail companies, with large distribution networks, have scaled back deliveries and shuttered stores in high-impact areas.[135] Mass demonstrations – of both peaceful and violent varieties – have been linked to diminished consumer confidence and demand stemming from the public health risks of group gatherings amid COVID-19.[135]

A looted Cub Foods supermarket in Minneapolis on May 28

Large-scale property damage stemming from the protests has led to increased insurance claims, bankruptcies, and curbed economic activity among small businesses and state governments. Insurance claims arising from property damage suffered in rioting is still being assessed, but is thought to be significant, perhaps record-breaking.[143] The City of Minneapolis' Community Planning & Economic Development Department gave an early estimate of at least 220 buildings damaged and $55 million in property damage in the city from fires and vandalism, centered on the Lake Street area; city and state officials have requested state and federal aid to rebuild and repair.[144][145] Later estimates projected damages to be upwards of $500 million across more than 500 buildings, making the unrest in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area the second most destructive in United States history after the 1992 Los Angeles riots.[146] Among the losses was Minnehaha Commons, an under-construction, $30 million redevelopment project for 189 units of affordable housing, which was destroyed by fire after being torched on May 27.[147][148] A community organization in Atlanta's Buckhead neighborhood said that between $10 million and $15 million in property damage (excluding losses from looting) was incurred over the weekend of May 29–31, mostly along storefronts along Peachtree Street and Phipps Plaza.[149] The damage to downtown Chicago's central business district (near the Magnificent Mile) was reported to have sustained "millions of dollars in damage" according to Fortune.[135]

Public financing and funding, particularly on the state level, has also been impacted by the protests. The coronavirus recession has eroded large parts of state budgets which have, subsequently, struggled to finance the police overtime pay, security costs, and infrastructure repairs related to the demonstrations.[135] State governments have, since June, announced budget cuts to police departments as well as increased funding to other public safety measures. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced on June 5 he will seek up to $150 million in cuts to the Los Angeles Police Department budget.[150]

Vandalized monument of Confederate general J. E. B. Stuart in Richmond, Virginia on May 31, 2020.

Scrutiny of, discussion of removal, and removal of civic symbols or names relating to the Confederate States of America (frequently associated with segregation and the Jim Crow era in the United States) has regained steam as protests have continued.[151] On June 4, 2020, Virginia governor Ralph Northam announced the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond would be removed.[152]

On June 5, making specific reference to events in Charlottesville in 2017, the United States Marine Corps banned the display of the Confederate Battle Flag at their installations.[153][154] The United States Navy followed suit on June 9 at the direction of Michael M. Gilday, the Chief of Naval Operations.[155]

Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin ordered the removal of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Linn Park. The Alabama Attorney General has filed suit against the city of Birmingham for violating the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act.[156]

A statue of America's first president, George Washington, has been torn down and American flag was burned by rioters in Portland, Oregon.[157] Portland Public Schools was responding after protesters pulled down the Thomas Jefferson statue in front of Jefferson High School. Several protesters tore down the statue of the third President of the United States and wrote: “slave owner” and “George Floyd” in spray paint at its white marble base. PPS officials said they recognize that the act is part of a larger and very important national conversation.[158]

Vandals defaced the statue of Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square and Queen Victoria's statue in Leeds.[159][160] The Lincoln Memorial, the World War II Memorial and the statue of General Casimir Pulaski were vandalized during the George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C.[161] On June 7, the statue of Edward Colston was toppled and thrown into Bristol Harbour by demonstrators during the George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom.[162] BLM activists in London are calling for the removal of 60 statues of historical figures like Prime Ministers Charles Grey and William Gladstone, Horatio Nelson, Sir Francis Drake, King Charles II of England, Oliver Cromwell and Christopher Columbus.[163] Protesters in Belgium have vandalized statues of King Leopold II of Belgium.[164]

In Washington, D.C., a statue of Indian freedom fighter and political ethicist Mahatma Gandhi was vandalized by unknown vandals on the intervening night of June 2 and 3. The incident prompted the Indian Embassy to register a complaint with law enforcement agencies. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Indian Ambassador to the United States, called the vandalism "a crime against humanity".[165][166][167] In London, another statue of Mahatma Gandhi was vandalised by Black Lives Matter protesters along with the statue of Winston Churchill.[168]

On June 12, the city council in Hamilton, New Zealand removed the statue of Captain John Hamilton, a British officer who was killed during the Māori Wars in 1864.[169] A local Māori elder Taitimu Maipi, who had vandalised the statue in 2018, has also called for the city to be renamed Kirikiriroa.[170] New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters called it a "wave of idiocy".[171]

"Defund the Police," a phrase popularized by BLM during the George Floyd protests

In the wake of Floyd's killing, state and local governments evaluated their police department policies, and the response to protests, for themselves. For example, California Governor Gavin Newsom called for new police crowd control procedures for the state, and the banning of the police use of carotid chokeholds, which starve the brain of oxygen.[172] The Minneapolis police department banned police from using chokeholds;[173] Denver's police department also banned the use of chokeholds without exception, and also established new reporting requirements whenever a police officer holds a person at gunpoint.[174]

In June 2020, Democrats in Congress introduced the Justice in Policing Act of 2020, a police reform and accountability bill that contains measures to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing. The impetus for the bill were the killings of Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other African Americans at the hands of police.[21][175][176]

On June 16, President Trump signed an executive order on police reform that incentivized departments to recruit from communities they patrol, encourage more limited use of deadly force, and prioritize using social workers and mental health professionals for nonviolent calls.[177] The order also created a national database of police officers with a history of using excessive force.[178]

Nine members of the Minneapolis City Council — a veto-proof majority — including Jeremiah Ellison, pledged on June 7 to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department, despite opposition from Mayor Frey.[179][180] U.S. representative Ilhan Omar stated, “the Minneapolis Police Department has proven themselves beyond reform. It's time to disband them and reimagine public safety in Minneapolis."[181]

The protests caused the Democratic leadership of the United States House of Representatives to schedule a vote on a bill to grant statehood to most of the District of Columbia. Nancy Pelosi called the situation of taxation without representation a "grave injustice"; 46% of the population is African-American.[182]

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz worried about a spike in COVID-19 cases.[192] New York Governor Andrew Cuomo shared similar worries, describing the protests as "inherently dangerous in the context of this pandemic",[24] and that people have the right to protest but not the "right to infect other people", or the "right to act in a way that's going to jeopardize public health".[24] He also said he would recommend that protesters assume they were exposed. Cuomo then announced the opening of state COVID-19 testing facilities, recommended to anyone who attended.[193] Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms stated that "I am extremely concerned when we're seeing mass gatherings. We know what's happening in our community with this virus",[24] She also said "If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a Covid test this week".[194] Other officials, including Minnesota officials, encouraged protesters to get tested.[195][196] Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said that "hundreds or thousands of people together in close proximity when we've got this virus [...] is not healthy".[24] Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, stated that it could be a "perfect set-up for the spread of the virus in the sense of creating these blips that might turn into some surges".[197] U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said he's worried the protests could lead to a spike in COVID-19 cases. According to Adams, "Based on the way the disease spreads, there is every reason to expect that we will see new clusters and potentially new outbreaks moving forward."[198]

Mayor of Washington, D.C. Muriel Bowser stated that "We've been working hard to not have mass gatherings. As a nation, we have to be concerned about rebound".[184] Spokeswoman for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Kristen Nordlund said "it's too early to know what, if any, effect these events will have on the nation's federal COVID-19 response".[199] Multiple governors attended street protests even though they appeared to violate their own orders to ensure social distancing.[200]

Abroad, Australia's Health Minister Greg Hunt said that "any mass gathering at this time is a lottery with peoples' lives".[201] Australian politician Mathias Cormann noted that for "families who haven't been able to attend funerals for their loved ones because they were doing the right thing by taking the health advice" it must be awful to watch these "people going recklessly to these sorts of demonstrations" and called their behaviour "incredibly selfish and "incredibly self-indulgent".[202] Irish doctors issued a stark warning against mass gatherings and asked people to exercise judgement.[203] In New Zealand, several figures including microbiologist and health adviser Siouxsie Wiles, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters, Opposition Leader Todd Muller, and ACT Party leader David Seymour criticized participants at local Black Lives Matter solidarity rallies held in several urban centers for flouting the country's COVID-19 lockdown restrictions banning public gatherings of over 100 people. Dr Wiles also called for people who attended the BLM marches and gatherings to self-isolate for 14 days.[204][205][206]

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock also urged people to not attend illegal large gatherings, including protests, of more than six people as the United Kingdom's death toll passed 40,000.[207][190] "I support very strongly the argument that is being made by those who are protesting", he said, "but the virus itself doesn’t discriminate and gathering in large groups is temporarily against the rules precisely because it increases the risk of the spread of this virus".[208] London police chief Cressida Dick also urged protesters to "find another way to make your views heard which does not involve coming out on the streets of London".[209]

Martin Seychell, a health official at the EU Commission, states that mass events could be a major route of transmission like for any infectious respiratory disease and that the likelihood and size of a second wave would depend on the effective maintaining of social distancing measures and other factors, many of which still being unknown.[210][211]

In June 2020 the CDC released the "Considerations for Events and Gatherings" which assesses large gatherings where it is difficult for people to stay at least six feet apart, and where attendees travel from outside the local area as "highest risk".[212]

A protester in Vancouver, Canada, with "Please give me space. I am diabetic and more [susceptible] to COVID-19" written on their shirt.

Experts have mixed views of the potential efficacy of properly used, non-medical-staff-grade face masks for limiting the spread of SARS-CoV-2. They note that using a face mask does not warrant stopping other protective practices, such as keeping sufficient physical distance from others.[213] Anthony Fauci said that "Masks can help, but it’s masks plus physical separation".[214] Others, however, believe the use of a face mask would be adequate for "protesting safely" without giving a clear specification of what "safely" means to them. Ashish Jha, Director of the Global Health Institute at Harvard's TH Chan School of Public Health, called masks critical[194] but also warned that the combination of protests and people congregating in public places before a vaccine could substantially increase the nation's death toll.[215] Theodore Long, a doctor affiliated with New York's contact tracing strategy, echoed Jha's point, and advocated "proper hand hygiene and to the extent possible, socially distance".[194] Many participants of the protests with potentially unclear current and prior-infection-status – including some police officers – did not wear a face mask at all times,[199] or adhere to other public safety guidelines.[187] Thus George Floyd's family encouraged those attending the official public memorial to wear masks and gloves,[216] as did multiple officials, including Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney who asked demonstrators to follow social distancing guidelines,[217] New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who asked protesters to wear masks,[24] and Minnesota's governor who warned that "too many" protesters were not applying physical person-to-person distances or wearing masks.[187] Many also reiterated the previously communicated and sometimes law-codified importance of avoiding mass-gatherings during the pandemic in general.

Hundreds of people arrested by police in New York City – including both peaceful demonstrators and persons accused of violence – were detained in overcrowded, sometimes unsanitary holding cells, sometimes without face masks, prompting concerns over jail-spread COVID-19 cases.[218] The Legal Aid Society sued the New York City Police Department, accusing it of detaining people for extended periods (up to three days) in violation of New York state law requiring that arrests receive arraignments within 24 hours. The department acknowledged that "it was common for up to two dozen people to be held for hours on buses before being taken to be booked" due to large backlogs and paperwork delays and that social distancing was impossible within jails, but a state trial court denied Legal Aid's request, given the "crisis within a crisis".[218]

The use of tear gas may increase the spread of the virus due to coughing and lung damage.[219] Smoke and pepper spray may also increase its spread.[185] Shouting and speaking loudly, which are common to both violent and non-violent protests, may also cause infections at distances greater than 6 feet (1.8 m).[220][199] Group singing has also been associated with potential corona virus spread.[221] Research has found that the share of infections due to a single infected person in a choir can be almost 90%,[199] and that just a few contagious people can infect hundreds of susceptible people around them.[222] Outdoor events may have a substantially lower risk of spreading the disease than indoor ones,[223][224] and the "transient" moments of people moving around may be less-hazardous than longer durations of proximity.[224]

Preventive measures against COVID-19 such as social distancing and the avoidance of mass gatherings are meant to not only protect the individual employing these measures from the virus but also to protect society and others – especially at-risk groups – from contracting the virus or being unable to get sufficient, life-saving treatment.[225][226] Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under Trump said that "There's going to be a lot of issues coming out of what's happened in the last week, but one of them is going to be that chains of transmission will have become lit from these gatherings".[24]

An Oklahoma State football player tweeted that he has tested positive for COVID-19 "after attending a protest in Tulsa AND being well protective of myself".[227][228] In Columbus, Ohio, the first case of a protester testing positive for COVID-19 was announced on June 3. The person had been attending protests in the city's downtown, despite feeling coronavirus symptoms prior to attending.[229] In several other cities participants have tested positive as well – including an asymptomatic local commissioner in Athens, Georgia and an individual who did not wear a face mask in Lawrence, Kansas.[228] No city has yet attributed a major outbreak to the protests as of June 6 and it could take weeks until early effects are known.[228][185] A study showed that average time from symptom onset to death was about 18 days[230][231][232] – circulation of the virus from the protests to vulnerable individuals may take additional time. Some public health and infectious disease experts have warned that the mass gatherings may lead to a second wave of COVID-19 infections in fall.[233] However, in many places a second wave in fall was expected even before the protests so these mass-gatherings may only make them more severe.[234][235][236] Some epidemiologists state that early effects could be a spike in coronavirus infections two weeks after the protests.[237][238]

Megan Ranney, an emergency room physician and researcher at Brown University called for people to examine the racial disparities of the COVID-19 spread and their relation to the protests.[24] The mortality due to COVID-19 was expected and shown to be higher among African Americans as this population is starting out with health outcomes that are disproportionately poor.[239][240]

The protests and reactions to it may potentially lead to an erosion of trust in the government, a range of scientists or doctors and the validity of measures to contain the pandemic.[224] Over 1,000 medical staff have signed a letter according to which they "do not condemn these gatherings as risky for COVID-19 transmission" and instead "support them as vital to the national public health and to the threatened health specifically of Black people in the United States" but that "this should not be confused with a permissive stance on all gatherings" – instead they only support these mass-gatherings in particular.[241] One epidemiologist, Jennifer Nuzzo, justified the currently unknown potential deaths arguing that she believes "the public health risks of not protesting for an end to systemic racism" "greatly exceed the harms of the virus".[242][243] Some have commented on such reactions, stating that they appear to be politicizing science and that "the left" changed the coronavirus narrative overnight, distorting science similar to what "the right" is often accused of.[243] Some have raised concerns over an, unfair, double standard whereby one should adhere to strict measures – including social distancing and closing businesses – while others are not only allowed but also cheered as heroes for joining the specific mass-gatherings they approve of.[244] Some have criticized untenable inconsistency. Tom Frieden states that if trust in government "is undermined by violent policing, or it's undermined by ham-handed public health actions that don't respect communities, that's going to have a negative impact on our ability to fight disease".[200]

Mitigation attempts that are inadequate in strictness or duration—such as premature relaxation or widespread violation of distancing rules or stay-at-home orders—could allow a resurgence after the initial surge and mitigation.[245][246]

An analysis by a Seattle scientist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, described as highly speculative by the author, predicts an additional 50 to 500 COVID-19 deaths for each day of mass gatherings downstream of the transmission chains within the U.S. only.[247][248] The mechanisms by which the protests may increase COVID-19 deaths are by upending efforts, such as contact tracing, by health officials to track and contain the spread of COVID-19,[224] reducing testing,[224][249] eroding trust in the government, scientists as well as in the efficacy and validity of adhering to containment-measures during and after the pandemic,[224] increasing large-scale physical proximity, and reducing the effectiveness of lockdowns.[247] Due to these estimations being highly speculative and lacking various data the total number of deaths worldwide may also be much larger than his highest estimates. It has been estimated that millions of lives have been saved in Europe due to measures such as lockdowns.[250] An announcement by officials of New Zealand suggests that there is a possibility of "eliminating" the virus within a country,[251] which in some cases could substantially increase the number of lives that could have been saved if the physical protests would have been prevented, substantially reduced or not participated in. Lifting of containment restrictions shortly before or after the protests may lead to complications[248][252] – specifically increasing infections.

The problems inherent to mass gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic have been communicated widely and were a rationale for measures such as lockdowns worldwide before George Floyd's death and the protests. Most protesters in Minneapolis interviewed by Wired magazine said they "participated with full knowledge of the health risks, and believe police brutality to be an even more urgent existential threat".[253]

The protests are largely organized decentralizedly by users – including several politicians, companies and people within the entertainment industry – of social media platforms, which did not flag or otherwise alter posts, who sometimes explicitly encouraged their audience to join the, often explicitly unlawful, mass-gatherings.[254][255][256]

While expressing disappointment at the flouting of social distancing rules, Police Minister Stuart Nash indicated that New Zealand Police were not seeking to prosecute protest organisers and participants.[257] Days before protests in the nation started New Zealand declared that it 'eliminated' COVID-19.[251] Laws temporarily prohibiting physical mass-gatherings of more than a limited number of people – or in some cases the violations of physical distancing laws during such events – for the protection of public health have been broken in several countries and cities including in the United Kingdom,[258][209][208][259] Ireland,[260][261] Australia,[201] New York City,[262] Germany,[263][264][265] Switzerland,[266] Austria,[267][268][269] Spain,[270] Netherlands,[271][272] Belgium,[273] Sweden[274][275][276] and France.[277][278][279][280][281]

Early test results of those who participated in demonstrations in Minnesota suggest that it did not result in an infection spike. More than 3,300 protesters in Minneapolis and St. Paul were tested at community sites; the initial batch of results reported that 1.4% of participants in demonstrations and protests tested positive for COVID-19. This is compared to a 3.7% positive rate for all tests on June 12, and a 3.7% positive seven-day rolling rate. The Minnesota Department of Health cautioned that the testing of protesters is "pre-emptive" as they typically are not reporting symptoms and thus their infection rate is expected to be lower than other large-scale testing. State health officials hope to examine the impact of the events on the outbreak with more tests in the coming weeks.[282] Similarly, testing after protests in Seattle did not, as of mid-June 2020, indicate a substantial increase in infections. Following the start of protests, Seattle opened two testing sites in communities with demonstrations and urged all demonstrators to get tested. Over 3,500 tests were administered, resulting in a positive rate of less than 1%. As of June 15, the testing program had identified one person who attended a protest and later tested positive. As a result, Seattle revised its testing guidelines to de-emphasize the recommendation for protesters to get tested. However, given the continuing protests and lag time between infection and symptoms, Seattle public health officials remain cautious about protest-related infections.[283]

No infection spikes related to the protests were reported in New York as of June 17. Spikes elsewhere coincided with reopening of indoor establishments, making it difficult to determine if protests played a role in upticks there. Jeffrey Shaman of Columbia University found that, of three modeled scenarios with mask-wearing and open air suppressing transmission, "the most optimistic scenario turned out to be most accurate." However, Shaman and New York officials caution that protesters are disproportionately young, and less likely to become ill, and there is a lot of uncertainty about the effect of various factors.[284] Health officials in California as of June 19 reported few positive cases among demonstrators, but noted that it was impossible to conduct contact tracing for large demonstrations and encouraged all protesters to get tested. George Rutherford, an epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco, noted, "The risk is broad, but low. It all depends on what proportion of people wear masks."[285] In contrast, the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health asserted on June 22 that it was "highly likely" that a surge in cases is connected to the protests, as well as the lifting of county stay-at-home restrictions, as well as restaurant events and parties that were held in violation of the restrictions.[286]

A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research that examined anonymous cellphone GPS and COVID-19 testing data for 315 US cities found that protests were associated with "modest evidence of a small longer-run case growth decline." Researchers found that those who did not protest stayed at home more, apparently because of reports of violence, offsetting the decreased social distancing at demonstrations at the population level. They also theorized that protesters returned to social distancing after protesting, which would mean that even if they were infected, they would not cause infection chains. Further, protesters tend to be younger, so would not experience symptoms that may prompt them to get tested, so protests may cause infections not captured in testing results. The study also noted that protesters may have mitigated spread through the use of masks and other infection control measures.[287] While cautioning that the aggregate data may be masking a negative public health outcome for the subset of the population that attended demonstrations, the NBER study concluded, "when considering the results' implications for the entire population: public speech and public health did not trade off against each other."[288]

Since June 6, at least 23 Houston Police officers have tested positive for the virus.[289] On June 11 Houston police confirmed that there are more new COVID-19 cases in the force in June than the entire month of May.[290] On June 16 it was reported that increasing numbers of protesters of the ca. 60,000 people protest in Houston on June 2 have been diagnosed with COVID-19.[291] Members of the D.C. National Guard have also tested positive for COVID-19 after protests.[292] While many states of the U.S. saw record highs of new cases these upticks have been mostly attributed to reopenings which were potentially exacerbated by the protests.[293][294] As of June 10 according to local reports during the rise in hospitalizations in the U.S. state Arkansas none of the new cases has been linked to recent protests in the state.[295] After the protests newly published scientific research as well as WHO-advisory indicate a more important role of face masks than previously believed.[296][297] However, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus re-emphasised that "masks on their own will not protect you from COVID-19" and highlighted the importance of hand-washing, social distancing and other infection-prevention strategies.[297] The effects of the protests may vary per location, likely require more time to evaluate and large gatherings with close proximity between individuals were not shown to be likely relatively safe prior to the protests but instead were believed to be high-risk even when taking place outdoors, when composed of a largely younger demographic and with widespread use of common face masks.

	Donald J. Trump	Twitter
	@realDonaldTrump

Replying to @realDonaldTrump

....These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!

May 29, 2020[298]

Utah National Guard soldiers from the 19th Special Forces Group in front of the White House on June 3

On May 27, 2020, U.S. president Donald Trump tweeted "At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd...."[299]

On May 29, Trump responded to the riots by threatening to send in the National Guard, adding that "Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts."[300][301][302][303] The tweet was interpreted as quoting former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley, who said "when the looting starts, the shooting starts" in December 1967, as Miami saw escalating tensions and racial protests aimed at the 1968 Republican National Convention.[304][305] Trump's use of the quote was seen by Twitter as an incitement of violence; Twitter placed the tweet behind a public interest notice for breaching its terms of service in regards to incitement of violence.[306] The next day, Trump commented on his original tweet, saying, "Looting leads to shooting, and that's why a man was shot and killed in Minneapolis on Wednesday night – or look at what just happened in Louisville with 7 people shot. I don't want this to happen, and that's what the expression put out last night means...."[307]

In a series of tweets on May 31, Trump blamed the press for fomenting the protests and said journalists are "truly bad people with a sick agenda."[308]

On June 1, in a teleconference with governors, Trump said they had been "weak" and insisted that they "have to dominate ... You've got to arrest people, you have to track people, you have to put them in jail for 10 years and you'll never see this stuff again."[309] He later proclaimed in the White House Rose Garden, "I am your president of law and order" and said he was "dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers" to deal with rioting in Washington, D.C.[310] Trump and an entourage subsequently departed the White House and walked to St. John's Episcopal Church, whose basement had been damaged by fire, and posed for pictures in front of it holding up a Bible. Police and national guardsmen had used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear a crowd of peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square to clear a route for Trump, an event that drew widespread condemnation from military and religious leaders, as well as fellow Republicans.[311][312] Four days after this event Washington D.C. renamed the street corner in front of St. John's Church "Black Lives Matter Plaza" and painted "BLACK LIVES MATTER" in large, yellow letters stretching from Lafayette Square north for two blocks.[313]

Surgeon General Jerome Adams said, in relation to the protests, "I remain concerned about the public health consequences both of individual and institutional racism".[1]

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) argued that extremists from the far-left and the far-right wanted to take aim at civil society and could potentially start a Second American Civil War.[314][315] Republican Senators Ben Sasse, Susan Collins, Tim Scott and Lisa Murkowski; Congressional Democrats, including Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer; and several military officials associated with various presidential administrations—including three former Trump appointees, ex-Secretary of Defense and retired Marine Corps general Jim Mattis, former White House Chief of Staff and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense Mick Mulroy—criticized Trump's handling of the protests. Many other Congressional Republicans either defended the Trump administration's actions or avoided directly responding to questions about the military clearance.[316][317][318][319][320]

On June 7, 2020, Senator Mitt Romney participated alongside Black Lives Matter protesters in a march in Washington D.C. as the first Republican Senator to participate in the protests.[321][322]

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden compared the death of George Floyd to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, saying that even "Dr. King's assassination did not have the worldwide impact that George Floyd's death did."[323]

Anti-police graffiti at the Utah State Capitol on May 30

On May 30, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo stated that the riots have exposed the "inequality and discrimination in the criminal justice system" and that "When you have one episode, two episodes maybe you can look at them as individual episodes. But when you have 10 episodes, 15 episodes, you are blind or in denial if you are still treating each one like a unique situation".[324]

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called for protesters to express their anger through "non-violent" means. She decried the riots as illegitimate and accused them of harming Atlanta rather than helping.[325]

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie, while sympathizing with the anger of protesters, asked for citizens to stop the violence and have a "Respectful, peaceful dialogue".[326]

An opinion poll indicates the majority (64%) of American adults are "sympathetic to people who are out protesting right now" and a slight majority (55%) disapprove of Trump's handling of the protests.[327] An Emerson poll of registered voters conducted between June 2–3 indicated that among American voters, 46% approve of the protests, 38% disapprove and 16% were neutral; 76% of voters disapprove of looting and property destruction during the protests, while 17% approve.[328]

A fire burns at maX it PAWN in Minneapolis on May 29 (top); Private security and boarded up storefronts at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, June 7 (bottom)

On May 31, Walmart temporarily closed several hundred of its stores as a precaution. Amazon announced it would redirect some delivery routes and scale back others as a result of the widespread unrest.[329] Meanwhile, Amazon Studios issued a statement supporting Black Lives Matter.[330]

In response to complains on social media reiterating complaints mentioned in a racial discrimination lawsuit, Walmart announced it would no longer store hair care products appropriate for most African Americans in locked security cases (which it had only been doing in a few stores, where products for other types of hair were not locked up).[331]

On June 4, LinkedIn CEO apologized after the company allowed a meeting to address George Floyd protests during which some employees made "appalling" racially insensitive comments.[332]

Various other companies have made public statements against racism and injustice and other displays of support since the death of George Floyd.[333]

In the media industry, the protests have spurred scrutiny for cop shows and led to the cancellation of popular television shows referred to by critics as copaganda.[334][335] With long-standing criticism that it presented an unbalanced view of law enforcement in favor of police, encouraged police to engage in more dramatic behavior for the camera, and degraded suspects who had not yet been convicted of any crime, the Paramount Network canceled the 33rd season of the TV show Cops and pulled it from broadcast.[336] The television network A&E cancelled a similar show, Live PD, which was also found to have destroyed footage documenting the police killing of Javier Ambler in Austin, Texas, in 2019.[337] The streaming service HBO Max temporarily pulled the film Gone with the Wind until video that explains and condemns the film's racist depictions could be produced to accompany it.[338]

The entertainment industry has been overwhelmingly supportive of the protests, exhibited by corporations voicing support for Black Lives Matter causes and a number of celebrities attending protests and making donations. Actors such as Jamie Foxx,[339] Nick Cannon,[340] and Kendrick Sampson[341]—among others—attended protests, while Blake Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds donated a record $200,000 to the NAACP.[342] Much of the music industry called for an organized "blackout" on June 2[343][344] while prominent musicians such as Ariana Grande,[345] Beyonce,[346] Chance the Rapper,[347] Halsey,[348] and J. Cole[349] attended protests or otherwise voiced support for the cause. Jay-Z spoke to the Governor of Minnesota to weigh in on justice for George Floyd,[350] Drake[351] and The Weeknd[351] donated to pro-Black Lives Matter causes. Taylor Swift made headlines by denouncing Trump on Twitter for "stoking the fires of racism." The tweet went on to become the 15th most liked tweet of all time, garnering 2.2 million likes as of June 2020.[352][353] K-pop group BTS, with the support of their agency BigHit Entertainment, donated $1,000,000 to the BLM movement.[354] Following this announcement, fans of the group ran a #MatchAMillion campaign, which raised an additional $1,026,531 within a day to be split between various BLM-related organizations.[355] Additionally, Kanye West donated $2,000,000 to the families of George Floyd, set up a 529 college fund for George Floyd's daughter as well as, fund Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery attorney fees. He was also seen protesting along with other protesters in Chicago.[356]

Television networks owned by ViacomCBS, including BET, CBS Sports Network, CMT, Comedy Central, Logo TV, MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Network, Pop TV, the Smithsonian Channel, TV Land, and VH1 suspended regular programming for 8 minutes and 46 seconds on June 1 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time as a tribute to George Floyd. The networks aired a video with the caption "I can't breathe" accompanied with breathing sounds, while Nickelodeon aired a separate scrolling video containing language from the Declaration of Kids' Rights, which the network first created on June 7, 1990.[357][358]

On June 2, Discovery, Inc. displayed blackout screens as part of "Blackout Tuesday" for the same length of time on its 19 domestic channels in the U.S.[359] On June 9 and 10, the same channels suspended programming for an hour each day at 9 p.m. Eastern time to broadcast a virtual roundtable discussion with African-American politicians, commentators, and entertainers. The show, moderated by Oprah Winfrey, was called OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here?[360] Procter and Gamble was a presenting sponsor, and Essence magazine also bought air time to promote a contest for black female entrepreneurs.

Netflix was the first major studio to issue a statement supporting Black Lives Matter in the wake of protests.[361] YouTube pledged $1,000,000 to combat social injustice.[362] Lego announced they would cease advertising White House and police-related toys, pledging $4 million towards education on racism and helping African American children.[363][364] The Walt Disney Company pledged $5 million supporting nonprofit organizations advancing social justice, including a $2 million donation to the NAACP.[365] CEO Bob Chapek and executive chairman Bob Iger released a statement to Disney employees promising "real change" in the wake of George Floyd's death. The cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, a police comedy series, along with showrunner Dan Goor, donated $100,000 to The National Bail Fund Network while also condemning Floyd's death.[366] Stephanie Beatriz, who plays Rosa Diaz on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, made a personal donation to the fund while encouraging actors who portray police on television to do so as well.[367]

Many members of the video game industry supported the protests and Black Lives Matter. Electronic Arts, 2K Games and Humble Bundle committed US$1 million towards black-oriented charities and foundations. Ubisoft, Square Enix, and The Pokemon Company also made significant financial commitments to the cause.[368][369][370]

Popular Disney amusement ride Splash Mountain will be rethemed into a Princess and the Frog-themed ride. Despite Disney stating that the plan was on the works since 2019, fans believed that the retheming was announced due to the recent protest as the current attraction was based on the movie Song of the South, a controversial movie depicting African-Americans in the bad light. The rethemed attraction would provide a better representation of African-Americans as the protagonist Princess Tiana is the first black Disney princess.

Much of the sports industry has been supportive of the protesters demanding justice for George Floyd. Several footballers across different leagues including Jadon Sancho, Romelu Lukaku, Marcus Rashford, among other, have shown full solidarity towards the issue.[371] In June 2020, Raheem Sterling on the BBC programme Newsnight, reacting to anti-racism protests around the world said that this is the time to speak up against injustice, especially in football. The forward remarked that there are 500 players in the Premier League of which one-third constitute of blacks, but the hierarchy has no black representative for blacks in the management. " It's not just taking the knee , it is about giving people the chance they deserve," he lamented on Floyd's death and lack of acceptance for black worldwide.[372] On June 17, 2020, more than 3 months after the Premier League resumed, Aston Villa and Sheffield United players took a knee in support of the black lives matter movement before the match.[373]

Six-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, who is the sport's first and only black driver has criticized the industry for the silence over the matter on Instagram. This has led to his fellow drivers expressing their views with several others supporting the campaign.[374] Formula One also issued a statement echoing Hamilton's post.[375] NASCAR has also banned Confederate flags at all of their events, following a call by driver Bubba Wallace for a ban of the flags.[376]

CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman was forced to resign over his response to the killing; over a thousand gyms, top CrossFit athletes, and Reebok and Rogue Fitness dropped partnerships with the company.[377]

Various community organizations have responded to the events with messages condemning racism.

Organizations representing most religious organizations in the United States, including the National Council of Churches,[378] numerous bishops representing various churches,[379] 26 Jewish organizations,[380] the Hindu American Foundation (HAF),[381] the Sikh Coalition,[382] the Buddhist Churches of America[383] and others released statements condemning the killing of George Floyd and calling for racial justice.

Multiple community organizations representing South Asians including the Association of Indian American Doctors[384] and various branches of the Federation of Indian Associations[385][386] have also issued statements about the incident.

Protest at the U.S. embassy in Berlin on May 30, 2020

Protest in Melbourne on June 6

•  Argentina – President Alberto Fernández said in an interview that for those who have lived in the U.S. (like Fernández had before), those images are "unthinkable", and compared the pictures of the protests to those seen in the 2019 film Joker: "What does that reaction mean? It is the reaction to inequality and the treatment that a community receives, and is the black community in the United States that suffers every so often attitudes like the one we saw filmed" he replied, referring to George Floyd's video and making a further comment about it: "It is a demeaning action to the human condition: someone who leans on the neck of someone lying on the floor who is telling him that he suffocates, and still lets him suffocate," he lamented; "We have to learn that an individual cannot live in peace with inequality, one cannot pretend to be distracted by inequality. We have to work to give better life quality and opportunities for all", concluded the head of state.[387]
•  Australia – Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated his beliefs that violent protests would not create change. He warned against Australian demonstrations taking a similar course as "there's no need to import things happening in other countries."[388]
•  Brazil – President Jair Bolsonaro expressed "regret" over the killing of Floyd, but attempted to distance ongoing protests in Brazil from their U.S. counterparts, stating that "racism [in the United States] is a little different from Brazil".[389] He also shared a post by President Trump regarding the U.S. designating Antifa as a terrorist organization.[390]
•  Cambodia - Prime Minister Hun Sen was quoted saying "Where are Brad Adams and Human Rights Watch? Where are they now? Why haven’t we heard its cries for human rights?".[391]

•  Canada – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called for Canada to "stand together in solidarity" against racial discrimination. He said Canadians are watching the police violence in the United States in "shock and horror."[392] When Trudeau was asked about Trump's threats to use military force against protesters, he paused for 25 seconds before responding diplomatically.[393][394]

•  China – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said "black lives matter and their human rights should be guaranteed" and hoped that "the U.S. government would take all necessary measures to deal with the violent law enforcement of police, to protect and safeguard the legitimate interests of racial minorities."[395] However, both state media and individual officials also criticized the United States government and accused it of hypocrisy.[396][397] For instance, the Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian accused the United States of having a 'double standard' for labeling U.S. protesters disappointed with racism as rioters while glorifying the Hong Kong protesters as heroes, and for shooting U.S. protesters and mobilizing the National Guard while criticizing the Hong Kong police.[398]

•  Chechnya – Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov said Trump needs to "end the mayhem" and "illegal actions against citizens." He continued, "Police are lynching people right on the streets of American cities....They are strangling citizens, beating them up, ramming them with cars." Kadyrov called on the United Nations to intervene.[399]
•  Saudi Arabia – The Saudi Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, described the protests as an "indication of the vitality of American society" and claimed that they showed "the strength of that society, its ability to mobilize in the face of crisis". Although he lamented "shortcomings in the American system concerning racism and discrimination", he expressed hope the U.S. "will be able to overcome the current difficulty they are now going through".[400]

•  Cuba – Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla tweeted that George Floyd "did not 'pass away.' He was brutally murdered. Unfortunately this is a well known story for African-Americans. He was unarmed and shouting 'I can't breathe,' but that wasn't enough to prevent an injustice. Our skin color should not define us. #BlackLivesMatter."[401]

•  France – Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said "any act of violence committed against peaceful protesters or journalists is unacceptable, in the United States or elsewhere."[402]

•  Germany – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Twitter that the peaceful protests in the United States following the death of George Floyd are "understandable and more than legitimate," and that peaceful protests must always be allowed.[403]

•  Ghana – President Nana Akufo-Addo said "black people the world over were shocked and distraught" by Floyd's killing, and expressed his condolences to Floyd's family and his hope that there would be "lasting change" in how America "confronts the problems of hate and racism."[404]

•   Holy See – Pope Francis called for "national reconciliation" in the U.S. saying that racism is "intolerable" and that the violence that erupted on the streets is "self-destructive and self-defeating."[405]

•  Hong Kong – Chief Executive Carrie Lam decried what she perceived as a 'double standard' in America's reaction to protests in Hong Kong and their protests at home.[406]

•  India – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "expressed concern regarding the ongoing civil disturbances in the US, and conveyed his best wishes for an early resolution of the situation" during a call with President Trump.[407]

•  Iran – On May 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned "the tragic murder of black people and deadly racial discrimination in the United States." It added that "the voices of the protesters must be heard ... (and) the repression of suffering Americans must be stopped immediately."[408] Two days later, a Ministry spokesman said at a news conference, speaking in English, "To the American officials and police: stop violence against your people and let them breathe."[409] In a televised speech on June 3, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stated that in the United States, "they kill people in an open crime, and they do not offer an apology while claiming [to support] human rights... Apparently, the African American man who was killed there was not a human being."[410]

•  Ireland– On June 4, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar expressed "genuine revulsion" at the "heavy-handed response" of the U.S. government towards the free press and protesters, and stated "And we've witnessed the absence of moral leadership or words of understanding, comfort or healing from whence they should have come." Many other political leaders in Ireland, such as Mary Lou McDonald of Sinn Féin, Alan Kelly of the Labour Party and Richard Boyd Barrett of People before Profit denounced racism both in the U.S. and Ireland, and criticised the Trump administration's handling of it in the US. The Irish Parliament, the Dáil observed a minute's silence in respect for those impacted by racism around the world, including George Floyd. Varadkar said that Ireland must take note from the issues coming out of America and address racism in Ireland as well.[411][412]

•  Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness said he was personally 'horrified and saddened' by the killing of George Floyd, and stated that he joined other world leaders in condemning the situation of racism and discrimination in the United States.[413] The government's National Council on Reparations acknowledged the prime minister's statements and said they 'join hands in solidarity with our African American brothers and sisters'.[414]

•  Malaysia - Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein advised Malaysians to avoid the protest areas and follow the curfew orders. He further stated on Twitter that “The situation in the US is very uncertain now following protests in several cities... Take care & #StaySafe!”.[415] Following the death and protest of George Floyd, The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) also expressed solidarity for the George Floyd's memorial service.[416]

•  Mexico – President Andrés Manuel López Obrador pronounced himself to be against "racism, xenophobia, and classism, whatever they take place.".[417] He also highlighted the figures of Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.[418]

•  Netherlands – On June 4, during a press conference about whether the Dutch could go on foreign holiday that year, Prime Minister Mark Rutte called the death of George Floyd "unacceptable." Rutte also commented on the recent George Floyd protests in the Netherlands, saying that racism is not only an American and that racism in the Netherlands is a "systemic problem."[419]

•  New Zealand – Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has stated that she was "horrified" by the situation around the death of George Floyd. Ardern had been criticized by local Black Lives Matter solidarity protesters for remaining silent about Floyd's death for a week.[420][421]

•  North Korea – A state newspaper said in a publication that "demonstrators enraged by the extreme racists throng even to the White House", used ad hominem to refer to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and touted China's rise above the United States.[422]

•  Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte expressed dismay over the protests and attempted to favorably contrast the "law-abiding" people of the Philippines to the protesters.[423]

•  Russia – The Foreign Ministry condemned the police violence and arrest of journalists amid the protests, remarking that "this incident is not the first in the string of incidents exposing lawlessness and unjustified violence by 'guardians of law and order' in the United States."[424] Maria Zakharova, the ministry's spokeswoman, further commented that in light of the protests, the U.S. "no longer had the authority" to criticize others regarding human rights.[425] On June 14, President Vladimir Putin stated that when protests "turn into mayhem and pogroms, I see nothing good for the country", and described removal of statues as "undoubtedly a destructive phenomenon".[426]

•  Serbia – Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, a populist and former ultranationalist, stated that Trump was dealing with "a serious and tough enemy."[427] He wished Trump "the best of luck," and stated, "I hope the US will come out of the crisis."[427]

•  South Africa – The government released a statement in which it called for all, especially security forces, to exercise maximum restraint in responding to the anger and frustration of protesters. The statement also highlighted that "just as the people of America supported South Africa in its legitimate struggle against apartheid, South Africa too supports the clarion calls for practical action to address the inadequacies highlighted by protesters, civil society and human rights organizations."[428]

•  Spain – Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his solidarity with the protests and his concern about the "authoritarian" ways in which the protests have been responded to during a parliamentary session.[429] His Second Deputy Prime Minister, Pablo Iglesias, posted a tweet with the word "ANTIFA" in response to Trump's intentions to declare Antifa a terrorist organization.[430] Sánchez has considered that everyone must unite to combat what he considers "the evil of our time," the extreme right, and has supported some demonstrations that, he said, "have in their genesis some of the most difficult elements in construction of a great country," the United States, to which he has expressed his respect.

•  Turkey – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a "racist and fascist" approach led to Floyd's death and said that "[we] will be monitoring the issue."[431] The Foreign Minister added on June 3 that "it is unacceptable for police to kill any person in such a way, regardless of race or religion... Justice must be done," but also that "No matter who it is, we do not support such vandalism, not just in the U.S. but also in other countries."[410] Cavusoglu also endorsed Trump's announcement that he would designate Antifa a domestic terrorist organization,[432] and Erdogan claimed to Trump that those committing violence and looting during the protests were linked to the People's Protection Units in Syria.[433]

•  United Kingdom – The Foreign Office reacted to the arrest of a journalist and said that "journalists all around the world must be free to do their job and hold authorities to account without fear of retribution."[431] Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab commented that the footage of Floyd's arrest was "very distressing" but said that it is "not his job" to comment on the U.S. president's response to the protests.[434] Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Parliament that "black lives matter," and added, "I also support, as I've said, the right to protest. The only point I would make... is that any protest should be carried out lawfully and in this country protests should be carried out in accordance with our rules on social distancing."[435] On June 5, the British embassy in the U.S. raised the issue of the treatment of British journalists by U.S. police, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.[436]

•  Venezuela – Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza condemned the "prejudiced language" used by Trump in describing the protesters.[437]

•  Zimbabwe – The government of Zimbabwe summoned Brian A. Nichols, the U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, to a meeting over remarks by White House official Robert C. O'Brien that Zimbabwe is a "foreign adversary" that could face retaliation for "fomenting" the protests.[438]

•  African Union – Head of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat described Floyd's death as a "murder," stating that the African Union condemned the "continuing discriminatory practices against black citizens of the USA."[439][440]

•  European Union – European Union Foreign Policy chief Josep Borrell stated that the EU is "shocked and appalled" by Floyd's death and attributed it to "abuse of power" by law enforcement. He also warned against further "excessive use of force".[441]

•  United Nations – UN High Commissioner on Human Rights Michelle Bachelet condemned Floyd's killing, urging American authorities to take "serious action" to stop the killings of unarmed minorities.[442] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that he was "heartbroken to see violence on the streets in our host country and our host city of New York". He also called for peaceful protests and restraint from security forces responding to the protests, concluding that "racism is abhorrent."[443]

• Amnesty International – The organization released a press release calling for the police in the United States to end excessive militarized responses to the protests.[87][88] It also called on the UK to review exports of security equipment, including tear gas or rubber bullets, to U.S. police forces.[444][445]

• Human Rights Watch said they were "appalled" by the footage of the arrest and said that "no one should ever be subject to such gratuitous violence". It also added that "George Floyd's cruel and pointless death, and the litany of black lives that were lost before, reconfirms our commitment to combat these injustices."[446]