Iran Press/ America: Former President Barack Obama threw his support behind the efforts of peaceful protesters demanding police reforms during his first on-camera remarks since a wave of protests over the killing of George Floyd convulsed the country and upended the 2020 election.
Mr. Obama, offering a strikingly more upbeat assessment of the protesters than Donald Trump and White House officials, said that he believed only a 'tiny' percentage had acted violently.
Obama called on every mayor in the United States to review use-of-force policies and to aggressively pursue an eight-point slate of police reforms that include mandatory de-escalation of conflicts, a ban on shooting at moving vehicles, timely reporting of violent incidents, and prohibitions on some forms of restraint used by the police.
He said that officials in New York City and Chicago had already agreed to adopt the measures. Other localities, including Atlanta, quickly followed suit.
The demonstrations in the US are the result of anger over the death of an African-American man, George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer while being arrested.
Floyd's neck and chest were pressed to the ground by policemen for nearly nine minutes, despite the victim's pleas that he could not breathe. 207
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