Demonstrations in cities across the US to condemn racism and police abuses remained large but turned notably more subdued on the eve of a Thursday memorial service for George Floyd that kicks off a series of events to mourn the man whose death empowered a national movement.
The calmer protests came on the same day that prosecutors charged three more police officers and filed a new, tougher charge against the officer at the centre of the case.
The most serious new charge Wednesday was an accusation of second-degree murder against Derek Chauvin, who was caught on video pressing his knee to Floyd's neck.
The three other officers at the scene were charged for the first time with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
If convicted, they could be sentenced to up to four decades in prison.
Meanwhile, Journalists at The New York Times have expressed dismay after an opinion piece by Republican senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas called for ‘sending the troops’ to curb the Black Lives Matter protests and riots in several parts of the country.
The riots are the result of the murder of George Floyd, an African American person, at the hands of an police officer working with the Minnesota Police
