US Black communities ‘terrorized at a greater rate’ under Biden than Trump: BLM

The US Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) says Black communities are being “terrorized” at a greater rate under the administration of President Joe Biden than Donald Trump.

The international social movement, formed in the United States in 2013, to fight racism and anti-Black violence, said on Tuesday that Biden is sending “more military equipment” to Black neighborhoods than Trump.

Biden, who had promised to address systemic racism in the US “is currently sending more military equipment to our neighborhoods than Trump did,” the BLM tweeted.

“Our communities are being terrorized at a greater rate than they had been under Trump,” the movement added.

The group called for the president to put an end to the “transfer of military equipment into the hands of police across the country — including school & campus police.”

The Biden administration has pressed ahead with the deployment of troops to places like Minneapolis, which saw protests in the wake of a recent police shooting of a Black man.

In a statement on its website, the BLM said police are “violent upholders of white supremacy that have no regard for Black life.”

‘Don’t be surprised by Biden's inaction’

In response to Black Lives Matter’s criticism of Biden, some people took to social media, citing the US president’s political record on criminal justice, saying that the group shouldn’t be surprised by Biden's inaction.

“Black Lives Matter calling out Biden is absolutely hilarious. I am going to thoroughly enjoy watching this play out,” said a social media user.

“What did you expect out of Crime Bill Joe and District Attorney / Attorney General Harris!” read another tweet.

Vice President Harris and her boss had both expressed support for Black Lives Matter movement in particular ahead of this week’s murder trial of ex-police officer Derek Chauvin, who killed African-American George Floyd last year.

But as the US approaches President Biden's first 100 days in office, his administration has taken no serious action to tackle police brutality and racism.

Minneapolis demands accountability for police brutality

Community leaders in Minneapolis, Minnesota, called for more accountability for police brutality, more direct action from authorities and police reform.

“We need a real investigation, not any consultations or public relations type of thing,” Michelle Gross, head of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) said Wednesday.

This came after the US Justice Department (DOJ) announced an investigation into the city’s police department into policing practices in Minneapolis.

The probe will consider whether the department engages "in a pattern or practice of using excessive force, including during protests," said Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday.

He said that if a finding of misconduct is uncovered, the Justice Department would issue a public report.

“I know such wounds have deep roots,” Garland said, “That too many communities have experienced those wounds firsthand.”

The attorney general has previously vowed to launch a crackdown on police misconduct.

The probe, the first major action of the Biden administration in regard with police brutality and racism, came after a jury found former officer Derek Chauvin guilty for the killing of African American George Floyd, in Minneapolis last May.

Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter on Tuesday.

Chauvin faces up to 40 years in prison for second-degree murder, up to 25 years for third-degree murder and up to 10 years for second-degree manslaughter.

Black Lives Matter also criticized authorities for the deployment of “the military you see out on your streets ahead of the Chauvin verdict.”

Heavy security measures were implemented in Minneapolis, in particular around the tower in which the courtroom sits. The tower was ringed by barbed wire and armed soldiers from the National Guard.

The guilty verdict, which was praised by Biden and Harris, came as protests were underway in Minneapolis over the police killing of another Black man, Daunte Wright, on Sunday.

Wright, 20, was shot by a white police officer in a Minneapolis suburb — 10 miles from where Floyd was killed.

Police officers remained on alert with canisters of tear gas and additional set of fences and barriers to prevent protestors from coming close to the police department building.

Police also imposed a city-wide curfew and National Guard troops were deployed to the city to quell the protests.

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