In These Times, July 6, 2020
Only a few days had passed since the police killed him, but people around the country were already filling the streets to protest for George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black from Minnesota.
From California to Chicago to New York, demonstrators rebelled against the fatal trifecta of policing, racism and capitalism, marching and chanting, emptying the shelves of corporate stores, fighting with police, and in Minneapolis, setting flame to the Third Precinct.
As quickly as law enforcement agencies moved to quash the demonstrations, jail support crews were preparing to stand up for the people being dragged off to police wagons. Jail support crews—people who care for arrestee’s primary needs immediately after they are released—work against the tide of mass arrests. Jail supporters carry out a wide array of activities and procedures, including often holding vigils outside jailhouses.
