USD 1.25 million bail for cop who killed George Floyd

Samantha Francine stares down Jay Snowden, a white man who confronted a group of peaceful protesters in Whitefish, Montana, and yelled expletives at them. Pic/Facebook/Samantha Francine

A judge kept bail at 1.25 million, or 1 million with conditions, for Derek Chauvin, the police officer charged in George Floyd-s murder. The conditions include, being law-abiding, appearing before court and surrendering firearms, reported the Guardian.

Chauvin, 44, said almost nothing during the 11-minute hearing while appearing on closed-circuit TV from a maximum-security prison. He faces murder and manslaughter charges for kneeling on Floyd-s neck for over 8 minutes, leading to his death.

Derek Chauvin

Thousands mourn
The last chance for the public to say goodbye to George Floyd drew thousands of mourners Monday to a church in his native Houston, as his death two weeks ago continues to stoke protests in America and beyond over racial injustice, and spurred France to abruptly halt the use of police choke holds.

Under the searing Texas heat at The Fountain of Praise church, mourners wearing T-shirts with Floyd-s picture or the words "I Can-t Breathe" " the phrase he said repeatedly while pinned down by a Minneapolis police officer " waited for hours to see Floyd-s body, dressed in a brown suit in an open gold-colored casket. One man in line fainted, while others waiting sang "Lean on Me."

Some knew Floyd in the nearby housing projects where he grew up. Others traveled for hours or drove in from other states. Those who couldn-t make it whipped up their own tributes: In Los Angeles, a funeral-style procession of cars inched through downtown as the viewing began in Houston.

Trump rules out defunding police

US President Donald Trump has ruled out defunding or dismantling the police departments, saying members of the force risk their own lives to protect others. Trump's remark came on Monday amid the growing demand from a section of the Americans to defund the police in the aftermath of the custodial death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. "We won't be defunding our police, we won't be dismantling... I guess you might have some cities that want to try but it's going to be a very sad situation if they did because people are going to be protected," Trump told law enforcement officials.

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