Black Lives Matter protests in perspective

by Peter Westmore The appalling death of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police, captured on smartphone camera then circulated on television and social media throughout the world, triggered a tidal wave of protests throughout the United States, which then extended to other parts of the world, including Britain, France, Belgium and Australia. Charges of murder and aiding and abetting have been laid against the police involved. In the U.S., however, the protests have morphed from police brutality to symbols of America’s history of racism, particularly in the Confederacy, then into an attack on President Donald Trump, undoubtedly aggravated by Trump’s offensive tweets against the protesters. The Democrats’ presidential contender, Joe Biden, joined the fray by sending a highly political video message to George Floyd’s funeral. Then he suggested that Trump would…