As Minneapolis burns over the police killing of George Floyd and shock and disappointment in Africa grow, some U.S. embassies on the continent have taken the unusual step of issuing critical statements, saying no one is above the law.

The statements came as the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemned the “murder” of Floyd and said Friday the continental body rejects the “continuing discriminatory practices against black citizens of the USA.”

Africa has not seen the kind of protests over Floyd’s killing that have erupted across the United States, but many Africans have expressed disgust and dismay, openly wondering when the U.S. will ever get it right.

“WTF? `When the looting starts the shooting starts’?” tweeted political cartoonist Patrick Gathara in Kenya, which has its own troubles with police brutality. He, like many, was aghast at the tweet by President Donald Trump, flagged by Twitter as violating rules against “glorifying violence,” that the president later said had been misconstrued.

Mindful of America’s image on a continent where China’s influence has grown and where many have felt a distinct lack of interest from the Trump administration in Africa, some U.S. diplomats have tried to control the damage.

The ambassador to Congo, Mike Hammer, highlighted a tweet from a local media entrepreneur who addressed him saying, “Dear ambassador, your country is shameful. Proud America, which went through everything from segregation to the election of Barack Obama, still hasn’t conquered the demons of racism. How many black people must be killed by white police officers before authorities react seriously?”

The ambassador’s response, in French: “I am profoundly troubled by the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Justice Department is conducting a full criminal investigation as a top priority. Security forces around the world should be held accountable. No one is above the law.”

Similar statements were tweeted by the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Uganda, while the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya tweeted a joint statement from the Department of Justice office in Minnesota on the investigation.

African officials also were publicly outspoken last month over racism in China, when Africans complained of being evicted and mistreated in the city of Guangzhou amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the time, the U.S. was quick to join in, with the embassy in Beijing issuing a critical security alert titled “Discrimination against African-Americans in Guangzhou” and noting actions against people thought to be African or have African contacts.

Now the Africa-facing version of the state-run China Daily newspaper is tweeting footage from Minneapolis with the hashtags #GeorgeFloydWasMurdered and #BlackLivesMatter.

Source: Voice of America

Protests were held in several cities around the world Saturday, in seeming solidarity with demonstrators in the U.S. over the death of an African American man while in police custody earlier this week.

The U.S. embassies in several countries drew protesters, angered by the death of George Floyd on May 25. Floyd died after a white police office kneeled on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. The incident was videotaped, and Floyd could be heard pleading several times, “I can’t breathe.”

In Berlin Saturday, thousands of Germans gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, chanting “Black Lives Matter,” according to Forbes.

A protest about racism in general drew thousands Saturday in Toronto, Forbes reported.

On Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, referring to Floyd’s death, said in an article in The Washington Post, “Racism is real. It’s in the United States, but it’s also in Canada. … We know people are facing systemic discrimination, unconscious bias and anti-black racism every day.”

In Mexico City on Saturday, drawings and flowers in support of Floyd were attached to a fence near the U.S. Embassy, according to social media posts.

On Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet also condemned the circumstances surrounding Floyd’s death, which she said was the latest “in a long line of killings of unarmed African Americans by U.S. police officers and members of the public.”

“I am dismayed to have to add George Floyd’s name to that of Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michael Brown and many other unarmed African Americans who have died over the years at the hands of the police — as well as people such as Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin who were killed by armed members of the public,” she said.

Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said he had seen the video of Floyd lying on the ground with a policeman’s knee on his neck.

“Because of this discrimination, racism on the basis of race, such things are done,” he said during a webcast on compassion Friday. “We see in the news channels, the media, about discrimination on the basis of color or religion these days, and then there is killing due to that, and then there are some who even take it as a pride to be able to kill somebody.”

The African Union Commission on Friday issued a strongly worded rare public statement on the domestic events in the United States.

In the statement, the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, “strongly condemns” police conduct in the Floyd case and extended his “deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”

Source: Voice of America