Rihanna, Katie Holmes, Chris Hemsworth back #blackouttuesday initiative with black backdrop image on Insta feed
To condemn the death of George Floyd and promote the Black Lives Matter movement, celebrities have begun posting a plain black background picture on their Instagram feeds. Celebrities like Rihanna, Ashley Benson, Chris Hemsworth, Luis Fonsi, Katie Holmes and Anna Kendrick have already posted the black backdrop image on their feed. On her post, Rihanna called it the #blackouttuesday movement.
People across the country have begun protesting after the video of George Floyd's final moments began doing the rounds on the internet. In the brief clip recorded by a bystander, we see George Floyd, an African-American from Minnesota, handcuffed and lying face down on the street. A white police officer named Derek Chauvin can be seen kneeling on Floyd's neck. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds despite Floyd complaining of pain and difficulty in breathing. Chauvin refused to get off Floyd's neck.
When Floyd was later rushed to the hospital, doctors tried to resuscitate him for an hour before declaring him dead. The disturbing video outraged Americans who began demanding justice for Floyd. What started off as a movement demanding justice for the unfair treatment of Floyd in the hands of a white police officer, quickly escalated into a full-blown movement highlighting the many atrocities experienced by African Americans.
Many of the protesters, who have taken to the streets, have been arrested on the grounds of being 'violent'. Several celebrities like Chrissy Teigen, Colin Kaepernick and Janelle Monae have donated huge sums of money to help with the arrested protesters' legal expenses and their release.
While the whole country has turned upside down with the protests, President Donald Trump was escorted into a secret bunker to keep him safe from the protesters protesting near the White House. The President received a lot of backlash for going into hiding when the nation needed him the most. On Monday, the President created quite a furor when he threatened to deploy military. This was immediately followed by the protesters being attacked by policemen with teargas and rubber bullets to make way for the President to walk to the St John's Church near the White House.