Editing 2020 Racial Justice Protests (section)

== George Floyd and National Context ==

The murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, captured on video that circulated globally, ignited protests across the United States. Floyd's death—Chauvin kneeling on his neck for over nine minutes while Floyd pleaded "I can't breathe"—crystallized grievances about police violence against Black Americans that had been building for years. The video's graphic nature, combined with pandemic frustration and accumulated anger over previous police killings, produced protests of unprecedented scale. Philadelphia, with its own history of [[Civil Rights Movement in Philadelphia|civil rights struggle]] and police-community tension, joined cities across America in taking to the streets.<ref name="leblanc">{{cite book |last=LeBlanc |first=Paul |title=After Floyd: A Year of Protest and Progress |year=2021 |publisher=HarperCollins |location=New York}}</ref>

Philadelphia's Black community had longstanding grievances about policing. Incidents of police violence, stop-and-frisk practices that targeted minority communities, and what many perceived as disrespectful treatment by officers had generated tension for decades. The [[MOVE Organization|MOVE bombing]] of 1985 remained in collective memory. More recent incidents—including controversial police shootings—had generated protests that foreshadowed 2020's uprising. The national moment created by Floyd's murder gave Philadelphia's existing grievances new expression and urgency.<ref name="taylor"/>