US protests latest: thousands still march in cities after police charged in George Floyd death
- Thousands of people gather in Los Angeles, New York, Washington; autopsy reveals George Floyd tested positive for Covid-19 in April
- Here’s the latest on the protests in the United States, sparked by the killing of unarmed black man
US protesters welcomed new charges brought Wednesday against Minneapolis officers in the killing of African American man George Floyd - but thousands still marched in cities across the country for a ninth straight night, chanting against racism and police brutality.
With a key demand met, demonstrators nevertheless staged large and mainly peaceful rallies calling for deeper change in cities from New York to Los Angeles, hours after the new indictments were announced.
In Minnesota, prosecutors had initially charged 44-year-old Derek Chauvin - the white officer filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes - with third-degree murder.
But they said Wednesday they were upgrading the charge, roughly akin to manslaughter, to second-degree murder, which does not involve premeditation but carries stiffer penalties.
Tou Thao, 34, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Thomas Lane, 37, were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and taken into custody.
