Although the death of 46-year-old George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer on May 25 has certainly had a direct inspiration on protests unfolding throughout the world, it's also true that with each protest comes with a different context in which a community comes forward to address the experiences its citizens have had with police.
Unfortunately, this has been particularly true in the case of Omaha, Nebraska, where The Omaha World-Herald reported that 22-year-old James Scurlock was fatally shot during an encounter with bar owner Jake Gardner. As Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine believes Gardner acted in self-defense, no charges were filed against him.
This situation has inflamed tensions that have already existed in Omaha this week, which makes the gesture captured in the full video so powerful. However, that city's protests also teach us how important it is to stay cautious when police kneel as the National Guard members did.
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