Death of Eric Garner

Holding banners decrying racism and police brutality, demonstrators marched through Thessaloniki on Tuesday to show solidarity with protesters in the US over the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Many held banners reading "Black lives matter" and "I can't breathe," the phrase that Floyd uttered repeatedly while pinned to the street under a police officer's knee.

The Democratic-controlled U.S. House Judiciary Committee on May 28 asked the Justice Department to investigate systemic police misconduct following a spate of high-profile police killings of African Americans.

"I can't breathe" were the final words of a Washington Post columnist who was killed at the hands of Saudi agents in Riyadh's Istanbul consulate, according to a report released on Dec. 9.

A jury on Feb. 11 found a rookie New York police officer guilty of manslaughter in the 2014 fatal shooting of an unarmed black man -- an incident that fueled US protests against police tactics.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio denied that the city had toughened its policing strategy in response to the riots in Baltimore after some lawmakers accused the city's police force of overly aggressive tactics in its handling of protests on April 29 at night.

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in New York and Washington on Dec. 13, stepping up demonstrations across the United States demanding justice for black men killed by white police.
      

More NBA players joined ongoing nationwide protests against police violence on Dec. 10 night and dozens of demonstrators again briefly blocked a Californian freeway.

On Dec. 6 a man was shot by a police officer in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and later died in hospital.

More than 1,500 people gathered in New York on Dec. 4 for a second night of protests against the chokehold death of an unarmed black father-of-six by a white police officer.

The crowd massed in Foley Square, near City Hall and New York police headquarters, shouting "Shut it down" and carrying placards saying "Black Lives Matter" and "Racism Kills."       

Thousands of demonstrators disrupted New York City traffic into early Dec. 4 after a grand jury decided not to bring charges against a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man.