Ex-Minneapolis cop Tou Thao sentenced for his role in George Floyd's death

SCREEN CAPTURE

Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao's (right) inaction as he warded off onlookers resulted
in the death of George Floyd, (behind him on the ground.)

UPDATED: July 28, 11 a.m. to correct spelling and editing errors and to add more details.

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Tou Thao was sentenced to 42 months in prison for his role in the death of Gorge Floyd Jr.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced Wednesday (July 27) the Hmong American officer along with fellow ex-Minneapolis Police Officer J. Alexander Jueng, who received a 36-months sentence.

George Floyd's death at the hands of MNPD officers sparked an outcry from civil rights advocates and a demand for police reform and the way law enforcement officers detain people in their custody.

RELATED: Who is Tou Thao?

On Feb. 24, 2022, following a trial that lasted nearly five weeks, a federal jury in St. Paul, Minnesota, found Thao and Kueng guilty of depriving Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from an officer’s unreasonable force when each willfully failed to intervene to stop former Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Officer Derek Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force. 

The jury also found that Thao and Kueng deprived Floyd of his constitutional right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to serious medical needs when they saw Floyd restrained in police custody in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him. 

The jury further found that both of these offenses resulted in cutting off air to Floyd's lungs resulting in his death. Both offenses are violations of the federal criminal civil rights statute that prohibits willful violations of civil rights by a person, such as a police officer, acting in an official capacity.

The same jury also found former MPD Officer Thomas Lane guilty of the same charges, resulting in bodily injury to Floyd and his death. On July 21, Lane was sentenced to 30 months in prison for this offense.

Former Officer Derek Chauvin previously pleaded guilty to depriving Floyd and a then-14-year-old child of their constitutional rights in violation of the same federal statute. On July 7, Chauvin was sentenced to 252 months in prison for those crimes.

“All four officers involved in the tragic death of George Floyd have now been convicted in federal court, sentenced to prison and held accountable for their crimes,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 

“George Floyd’s death could have been prevented if these defendants had carried out their affirmative duty to intervene to stop another officer’s use of deadly force. While these defendants have now been held accountable, law enforcement officers and leaders must take seriously the affirmative duty under the Constitution to intervene to stop misconduct by fellow officers and the duty to render medical aid. 

"The federal prosecution of all officers tied to the death of George Floyd should send a clear and powerful message that the Department of Justice will never tolerate the unlawful abuse of power or victimization of Americans by anyone in law enforcement,” said Clarke.

Floyd's agonizing death and his pleas to breathe was ignored by the officers as the scene was videotaped by onlookers. Chauvin kept his knee on the back of Floyd's neck  for more than nine minutes. 

Unlike officers Chauvin, Lane, and Keung, Thao didn’t physically touch George Floyd during the fatal incident. Thao instead interacted with the growing number of eyewitnesses. He’s seen in the viral video instructing onlookers to “get back on the sidewalk” while the three other officers pressed George Floyd down to the ground.

The recording of Floyd's last minutes went viral, sparking massive protests across the world and reinvigorated the Black Lives Matter movement. The incident and public outrage resulted in bans on the chokeholds often used by police officers to restrain suspects.

Thao spoke for more than 20 minutes at his sentencing hearing during which he frequently quoting scripture as he said his arrest and time in jail led him to turn toward God, according to sources in attendance. However, he did not directly address his actions or offer any apologies to the Floyd family. Thao — like Lane and Kueng — remains free on bond awaiting a state trial, but spent several weeks in jail after his 2020 arrest on the state charges.

Judge Magnuson noted the slew of letters supporting the former officer, including one that he said had 744 signatures, and cited what he called Thao’s “completely clean record.”

“You had a difficult childhood and have done well to become a good police officer, father and husband,” the judge said.

The ex-officers still will face another trial under state charges.

Both men are due to report to federal prison on Oct. 4, though Magnuson noted that could change because of their upcoming state trial. Magnuson said he would recommend that they be allowed to serve their time at minimum-security federal facilities in Duluth or in Yankton, South Dakota, so they could be near family. The final decision is up to the Bureau of Prisons.

“Former officers Thao and Kueng each had an individual duty and opportunity to intervene in the excessive force that resulted in the agonizing death of Mr. Floyd, but both men failed to take any action,” said U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger for the District of Minnesota. 

“These sentences reaffirm that every law enforcement officer, whether rookie or senior, has an affirmative duty to protect individuals in their custody.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow @DioknoEd on Twitter.

Hmong American ex-police officer convicted in allowing George Floyd to die

Former officer Tou Thao was found guilty in the death of George Floyd.

The Hmong American ex-police officer involved with the murder of George Floyd was found guilty Thursday.

Former Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao ignored bystanders who pleaded for someone to help George Floyd as Derek Chauvin knelt on him, according to prosecutors.

Thao, along with former officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted of violating George Floyd’s civil rights after they failed to get medical attention for him as Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's neck, ending his life.

"Today's guilty verdicts should serve as the guiding example of why police departments across America should expand and prioritize instruction on an officer's duty to intervene and recognize when a fellow officer is using excessive force," wrote the George Floyd legal team in a statement Thursday. 

"With that being said, the existing policies were not on trial; rather, on trial were the human beings present when the breath was taken from an unarmed man right in front of them," continued the statement.

In closing arguments on Tuesday — part of a month-long federal trial — prosecutors concluded that Thao, and the other two former police officers, “chose to do nothing” in the during Floyd’s plight, which eventually led to his death on May 25, 2020.

All three former officers were charged with “depriving Floyd of his right to medical care,” according to the Associated Press. Additionally, Thao and Kueng were charged with “failing to intervene to stop Derek Chauvin,” who was convicted of Floyd’s murder last April.

While Thao did not physically restrain the 46-year old Floyd, he kept bystanders away and ignonred their pleas to allow Floyd to get off the ground. Thao watched as Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck, prosecutors said. Chauvin, who was a more senior officer, was sentenced to 22 years and six months last June.

Floyd's nine-minute ordeal leading to his death was captured by a bystander's video spurring protests around the world calling for justice and police reform .

Sentencing on the civil rights convictions for Kueng, Lane and Thao will take place at a later date.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

Filipino American dies after police apply knee on his neck

SCREEN CAPTURE / YOUTUBE

The family of Angelo Quinto held a press conference Thursday.

The deadly knee-to-the-neck technique that killed George Floyd was used by police against a Filipino American and might have caused his death. 

The family of a 30-year-old Angelo Quinto is filing a wrongful death suit against officers in Antioch, California who answered a 911 call Dec. 23. Quinto was rendered unconscious and bloody. He was pronounced dead at a hospital three days later.

"He said ‘Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me,’" Quinto’s mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins told KTVU, describing her son's last words. "I was there. I was watching them. I trusted them. I thought they know what they’re doing."

ANGELO QUINTO

“His biggest fear was death and his second biggest fear was the police,” said Quinto's sister, Isabella Collins, who made the 911 call when her brother was having a mental health episode. “That’s where my guilt comes from.”

Tactics used by Antioch police are in question here, says the family's attorney, John Burris.

“He was snatched from his mother’s arms, thrown to the ground. Police jumped on him and literally put a George Floyd-tight hold on the back of his neck,” said Burris during a Thursday press conference.

Antioch police have released almost no information about the case. A press release about the incident wasn't released until Jan. 25 when the East Bay Times inquired about Quinto's death. It has been almost three months and the coroner still hasn't released a cause of death report. APD and the city have been silent except to say no violence was used. In a statement Thursday (Feb. 15), APD's Lt. John Fortner said the investigation is still open.

Antioch police went to Quinto-Collins's home in December when her son Angelo Quinto was having what she calls a mental health crisis. Two days before Christmas, the former Navy sailor was suffering an episode of paranoia, which he began having after a recent head injury, says his family.

His sister called 911 when she and her mother had trouble calming Quinto. When police arrived, his mother had him a bear hug to prevent him from injuring himself or others.

"One officer was holding his legs and the other officer had his knee or lower leg here," the mother told KTVU, indicating the back of her neck.

By the time paramedics arrived, Quinto wasn’t moving and blood was coming out of his mouth, say family members. When paramedics transferred him to their ambulance, Quinto was already unconscious.

APD told The Mercury News that the cause of death is still unknown and a toxicology report can take weeks.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Edited 10:45 a.m., Feb. 21 for clarity.

Sunday Read: Pulitzer Prize author ponders Tou Thao and the place Asian Americans hold in the U.S.

I'm taking a break from usual weekly attempt at relevance by linking the reader to another site. Sorry, about that.

Many of us here on social media rarely take the time to read OG "content creators" such as Time magazine and local newspapers. I found the Time magazine essay -- Asian Americans Are Still Caught in the Trap of the ‘Model Minority’ Stereotype. And It Creates Inequality for All -- so thoughtful that I want to share it with you.

Viet Thanh Nguyen, who won the 2016 Pulitzer for Fiction for his novel "The Sympathizer," is just a damn good writer. In the July 6 edition of Time, a couple of days after Independence Day, he writes:

"The face of Tou Thao haunts me. The Hmong-American police officer stood with his back turned to Derek Chauvin, his partner, as Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds and murdered him.

"In the video that I saw, Tou Thao is in the foreground and Chauvin is partly visible in the background, George Floyd’s head pressed to the ground. Bystanders beg Tou Thao to do something, because George Floyd was not moving, and as he himself said, he could not breathe.

"The face of Tou Thao is like mine and not like mine, although the face of George Floyd is like mine and not like mine too. Racism makes us focus on the differences in our faces rather than our similarities, and in the alchemical experiment of the U.S., racial difference mixes with labor exploitation to produce an explosive mix of profit and atrocity. In response to endemic American racism, those of us who have been racially stigmatized cohere around our racial difference. We take what white people hate about us, and we convert stigmata into pride, community and power. So it is that Tou Thao and I are “Asian Americans,” because we are both “Asian,” which is better than being an “Oriental” or a “gook.” If being an Oriental gets us mocked and being a gook can get us killed, being an Asian American might save us. Our strength in numbers, in solidarity across our many differences of language, ethnicity, culture, religion, national ancestry and more, is the basis of being Asian American.

He continues, writing about his immigrant parents and their struggles to attain what they believed was the American dream in San Jose, which before the rise of Silicon Valley, was like many urban downtowns, was a downtrodden ghost town devoid of live and entrepreneurial activity. 

Nguyen was able to bring together all the political, social and economic viruses creating havoc through our country 

"If we are dissatisfied with our country’s failures and limitations, revealed to us in stark clarity during the time of coronavirus, then now is our time to change our country for the better. If you think America is in trouble, blame shareholders, not immigrants; look at CEOs, not foreigners; resent corporations, not minorities; yell at politicians of both parties, not the weak, who have little in the way of power or wealth to share."

He goes on to write about our Asian American identity, the model minority and where we fit in the melange of a multi-hued America.

It's a damn good read and one that we can spend a many hours pondering. If you want to read the entire essay, click here.

Excellent writer that he is, Nguyen doesn't give a nice answer neatly wrapped with a bow to the questions he raises. That answer lies within each of us.

Naomi Osaka talks about about why she's speaking out; qualifies for the U.S. Open's semifinals;

"Being 'not racist' is not enough. We have to be anti-racist."

--NAOMI OSAKA

Without telling anybody -- not even her agent-manager or coach -- Naomi Osaka went to Minneapolis to join the demonstrations caused by the death of George Floyd. She went  with her boyfriend, the musician and rapper YBN Cordae. 

“Whenever I have a chance to see something for myself, I jump on it,” Osaka, told the Wall St. Journal. “I’ve always watched protests on TV, and I never had the chance to go because I was always playing tennis.”

Marching with the protesters and listening to the speakers, it was the first time she had taken a break from playing tennis since she began training at a very young age, she says.

“Everyone was so passionate,” Osaka tells the Journal. “There were constantly things going on and people talking to each other about who’s organizing this rally and things like that. I thought it was really powerful.”

What she learned from those few days in Minneapolis: "Being 'not racist' is not enough. We have to be anti-racist."

Floyd's May 25 death while being arrested was videotaped by onlookers to the point Floyd, a Black man, lost consciousness from having a policeman's knee pinning him by the neck. His death and the viral video re-energized the Black Lives Matter movement and sparked worldwide demonstrations against racial injustice that continues to this day and has become an issue in the 2020 Presidential race.

Tuesday (Sept. 8), before and after her match at the U.S. Open, she wore a face mask with George Floyd's name on it. It's the fifth mask she's worn during the tournament. She has two more masks to wear -- enough to reach the finals.

She beat Shelby Rogers, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals, an opponent she has never beaten in their three previous encounters. Osaka's win at the U.S. Open sets up a semifinal match against Jennifer Brady, 25, from Pennsylvania.

In keeping with the COVID-19 social distance protocols, the tourney is being played without fans in attendance.

In interviews after her match with Rogers, she was visibly moved talking about her personal demonstration to bring attention to the deaths of African Americans, which she says, "didn't have to happen."

She had received messages from the families of Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery, two of the names stenciled on masks that she wore in her earlier matches. She also wore masks with Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain.

"I don't know. I feel like I'm a vessel, at this point, and in order to spread awareness and, hopefully, it's not going to dull the pain, but hopefully I can, you know, help with anything that they need," said Osaka.

"It means a lot; I feel like they're so strong, I'm not sure what I would be able to do if I was in their position," she said when talking about the families.

In an August article for Esquire, Osaka writes why she's decided to use her platform for the cause of social justice.

In the past few months, I’ve re-evaluated what’s actually important in my life. It’s a reset that perhaps I greatly needed. I asked myself, “If I couldn’t play tennis, what could I be doing to make a difference?” I decided it was time to speak up...for every George, there is a Brionna, a Michael, a Rayshard. The sad list goes on. That’s just the tragedies captured on camera. I remember watching the outrage at Michael Brown’s case in 2014, and nothing has really changed since. Black people have been fighting this oppression alone for so many years and progress has been fleeting at best. Being “not racist” is not enough. We have to be anti-racist.

Osaka will play Brady in semi-final match on the US Open courts in Queens, New York City on Thursday, Sept.10.

Naomi Osaka wins first round match at U.S. Open - in her own style

SCREEN CAPTURE

Naomi Osaka wore a mask during warm-ups but took it off during play.

Naomi Osaka arrived at the U.S. Open for her opening-round match on Monday wearing a black facemask with Breonna Taylor's name in white letters. honoring the former Louisville EMT who was shot and killed by police while she was sleeping in her apartment earlier this year.

"I'm aware that tennis is watched all over the world, and maybe there is someone that doesn't know Breonna Taylor's story," Osaka told reporters. "Maybe they'll like Google it or something. For me, just spreading awareness. I feel like the more people know the story, then the more interesting or interested they'll become in it."

The 4th-ranked tenni player beat Misaki Doi 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, although not fully  recovered from a hamstring injury she suffered in Friday's semi-final match at the Western & Southern Open.

During the Western & Southern tourney, she withdrew on Wednesday as other professional athletes in the NBA, MLB, and WNBA refused to play in protest of the police and vigilante violence against demonstrators in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Tourney officials decided to halt all matches on Thursday in support of the athletes but resumed play on Friday.

The 22-year old player, who was ranked No. 1 two years ago, said she brought seven masks, -- enough to reach the finals.

Osaka, who is of Haitian and Japanese descent, plays for Japan where she was born  though she lives and trains in the U.S.Her decision to withdraw from last week's tournament was her way to protest the “continued genocide of Black people at the hand of the police.”

Her next opponent is Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who she'll play Wednesday (Sept. 2).

Sunday Read: White extremists have infiltrated police ranks

FACEBOOK

Louisiana police officer Raymond Mott (left) was fired after this photo of him surfaced doing a Nazi salute with a KKK member during an anti-immigration rally.

One of the ominous aspects of the racial awareness brought about in the aftermath of George Floyd's death is the apparent friendliness between the police and counter-protestors who show up at Black Lives Matter demonstrations.

In 2015, a classified FBI Counterterrorism Policy Guide, obtained by The Intercept, stated that “domestic terrorism investigations focused on militia extremists, white supremacist extremists, and sovereign citizen extremists often have identified active links to law enforcement officers.”

Not all police officers are racists! Let me repeat: Not all police officers are racists.

Despite the lofty words of law enforcement leaders promising to institute reforms and weed ou the bad cops, the rank-and-file Blue Line just doesn't get why the reforms are necessary.

Just before police teams tear-gassed and forced demonstrators away from the White House just prior to Donald Trump's photo op at St. John's Episocopal Church, white police officers warned armed white counter-protesters to go inside because of the pending police action. 

• During protests in New York City, a New that has been linked to white supremacist groups, basically the thumb and forefinger forming an "O" and the other three fingers extended.

• The Albuquerque police department in communicating with each other on their walkie-talkies referred to one militia group at another protest as “heavily armed friendlies,” according to KUNM radio station.

• Around 100 young, white men wandered around Philadelphia wielding baseball bats, tire irons and golf clubs, unchallenged by the white police officers. They were allegedly protecting their neighborhoods. They "beat the shit" out of one bystander recording them. Witnesses said officers "high-fived" some of the vigilantes.

• In Minneapolis where George Floyd was killed, the leader of the police union of the Minneapolis Police Department, Lt. Bob Kroll, was a defendant in a discrimination lawsuit brought by four black police officers against the MPD. In their complaint, the plaintiffs allege that the Lieutenant openly wore a “White Power badge” on his a motorcycle jacket.

The vast majority police officers mean to do well in their service to their communities. Most never shoot their guns during their entire career.

Unfortunately, those good men and women are having their profession sullied by a few bad officers who abuse the power given to them by the public.

The recent incidents that have occurred since the anti-racist demonstrations began occurring every day since Floyd's death but earlier studies have warned about the infiltration of police departments by white supremacists and the recruitment of current police officers by the same radical white organizations.

As early as 2006, an FBI assessment, “White Supremacist Infiltration of Law Enforcement,” warned of white supremacist plans of “infiltrating law enforcement communities or recruiting law enforcement personnel.” The report said that skinhead groups were encouraging members to become “ghost skins” within law enforcement agencies, a term the report said white supremacists use to describe members who “avoid overt displays of their beliefs to blend into society and covertly advance white supremacist causes.”

One of the cases cited in this report about an 18-year-old Chinese student in Nashville, Indiana, who was attacked by a white supremacist with a hatchet.

In 2009 report by the Department of Homeland Security looked into right-wing extremism and its relationship to “violent radicalization” in the United States. 

“Federal law enforcement agencies in general — the FBI, the Marshals, the ATF — are aware that extremists have infiltrated state and local law enforcement agencies and that there are people in law enforcement agencies that may be sympathetic to these groups,” said principle researcher Daryl Johnson told The Intercept.

The reports were so strongly denounced by Republicans that nothing came of them during the Obama administration. Obama's DOJ did enter into consent decrees with over a dozen police departments needing reform. However, Donald Trump's first Attorney General Jeff Sessions stopped enforcing the decrees and no new consent decrees have been signed by Trump's DOJ. 

Despite these reports' warnings, there have been an alarming number of reports of officers exposing racist beliefs and tendencies from -- Facebook photos of an officer giving a Nazi salute or wearing a Klan hood to discovery of actual membership in hate groups such as the KKK, the League of the South or the Oathkeepers. 

When discovered, these racist officers are usually fired, but the good intentions of higher-ups don't do anything to prevent the rise in white supremacists infiltrating law enforcement or falling prey to racist ideology.

Police departments must do more to root out the bad officers and they need to employ more sophisticated personality and bias tests to discover the racist beliefs held by the men and women trying to enter law enforcement.

What makes the matter worse, it appears that the police officers have adopted the "no snitch" rule when fellow officers commit unlawful acts or use excessive force against a suspect. If law enforcement hopes to regain the trust of the people they are supposed to serve, the majority of police officers need to speak out when they see one of their peers doing something wrong.

Although the First Amendment’s freedoms of association and expression mean it’s perfectly legal for anyone to join a hate group and still be a member of law enforcement, modern screening tests can uncover aggressive behavior, flawed decision-making and racial biases that might affect the way they perform their duties thus should disqualify police recruits' eligibility. According to the FBI memo, the government can limit employment opportunities of members “when their memberships would interfere with their duties.”

“Many people in these communities of color feel they have been the subject of police violence for decades,” said Samuel Jones, professor of law at the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago. “And when an officer engages in conduct that adds or enhances that divide," says Jones,  "they are ultimately jeopardizing the integrity of their agencies and putting their fellow officers in danger.”

Now that George Floyd's killing by a police officer allowed people to see what Blacks have been saying for years -- the unequal justice meted out to their community.

Pete Simi, a sociologist who spent decades studying the proliferation of white supremacists in the U.S. military, agreed. “The report underscores the problem of even discussing this issue. It underscores how difficult this issue is to get any traction on, because a lot of people don’t want to discuss this, let alone actually do something about it.”

It took Floyd's death to get a serious police reform bill introduced in Congress. The House of Representatives voted June 25 to pass H.R. 7120, the "George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020." 

The bill languishes unheard in the Mitch McConnell-controlled Senate.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A word of caution, this is news sprinkled with opinion. Readers are encouraged to seek multiple news sources to formulate their own positions.

'Bojack Horseman' creator admits error casting a white actress to voice Vietnamese American character

Animation industry doing 'soul-searching' in casting of characters of color in the wake of anti-racism protests

Diane, a Vietnamese American character, and Bojack Horseman

ASAM NEWS & VIEWS FOR THE EDGE

The creator of “Bojack Horseman” admitted on Tuesday that he made a mistake casting white actress Alison Brie to voice a Vietnamese American character named Diane Ngyuen, Miami Herald reports.

The show’s sixth and final season aired in January. Raphael Bob-Waksberg, the creator of the popular Netflix adult cartoon, discussed his “huge racist error” in a Twitter thread in response to the animated "yellow-facing" of the Diane Ngyuen character.

In the past week, responding to the racial sensitivity raised by weeks of anti-racism demonstrations protesting the death of George Floyd and the systemic racism in US institutions, including the animation industry.

Bob-Waksberg admitted in the thread that he was asked about casting Brie to voice Diane early on but evaded the questions because his understanding of the issue was still evolving.

“I didn’t want to give a defensive or half-thought-out answer,” Bob-Waksberg wrote.

In 2018, nearly four years after the first season was released, Bob-Waksberg addressed the casting decision in an interview with Uproxx. He told Uproxx he knew when he was writing the pitch that Diane was going to be Vietnamese American, but that she would be “fully American.”

“Her race is barely going to play a factor and she’s just going to be a person,” the creator of the show said in 2018.

Bob-Waksberg recounted his 2018 explanation in Tuesday’s Twitter thread saying that his comments were a “very ignorant way to talk about WOC.” He said that his intent was to write an Asian American character that wasn’t defined by stereotypes, but admitted he went too far in the other direction.

“The intention behind the character is I wanted to write AWAY from stereotypes and create an Asian American character who wasn't defined solely by her race,” Bob-Waksberg wrote. “But I went too far in the other direction. We are all defined SOMEWHAT by our race! Of course we are! It is part of us!”

Bob-Waksberg also added that it was a mistake not to have hired a Vietnamese American writer to reflect on Diane’s heritage, The Independent reports. Over the course of six seasons, not a single Asian American writer was hired.

“We should have hired a Vietnamese writer, and a Vietnamese actress to play Diane - or if not that, changed the character to match who we did hire,” he wrote.

Bob-Waksberg concluded the thread by thanking people for continuing to engage him on the issue. He said he feels it is important for him to keep talking about it.

Brie also expressed regret at voicing the Vietnamese American charactoer. The 37-year-old wrote: 'In hindsight, I wish that I didn't voice the character of Diane Nguyen. I now understand that people of color, should always voice people of color.

'We missed a great opportunity to represent the Vietnamese-American community accurately and respectfully, and for that I am truly sorry. 

'I applaud all those who stepped away from their voiceover roles in recent days. I have learned a lot from them." 

Brie was referring to the voice actors who last week stepped away from their animated roles of characters of color. The soul searching by actors and producers of animated shows were reacting to the demonstrations sparked by the death of George Floyd two weeks ago in Minneapolis and the racial awareness raised by global protests calling for racial equity.

In a pair of statements shared on social media on Wednesday (June 24) within hours of one another, the white actresses — Jennie Slate and Kristen Bell, of the animated shows Big Mouth (Netflix) and Central Park (Apple TV Plus) — said their casting had contributed to the “erasure” of their black colleagues. 

White actress Jenny Slate provided the voice for Missy, a character of mixed race, in 'Big Mouth.'

“Black characters on an animated show should be played by black people,” Slate wrote.
“Casting a mixed race character with a white actress undermines the specificity of the mixed race and Black American experience,” Bell wrote on Instagram.

On Friday (June 26) Mike Henry, a Family Guy voice actor who is white, tweeted that he would no longer play the role of Cleveland Brown, a black character who has appeared on that series since its debut in 1999.

“It’s been an honor to play Cleveland on Family Guy for 20 years,” Henry wrote in his tweet. “I love this character, but persons of color should play characters of color. Therefore, I will be stepping down from the role,” he said in his tweet.

The creators of The Simpsons, which is in its 31st season said they would no longer use white actors to voice their characters of color. Earlier this year, actor Hank Azaria said he would no longer portray Apu, an Indian American character that often resorted stereotypical behavior.

“Moving forward, The Simpsons will no longer have white actors voice nonwhite characters,” its producers said in a statement.

“Once I realized that that was the way this character was thought of, I just didn’t want to participate in it anymore. It just didn’t feel right,” said Azaria, who stopped portraying Apu role in February.

TGIF Feature: H.E.R. releases protest song, 'I Can't Breathe'

H.E.R. has officially released a protest song “I Can’t Breathe,” which she wrote in response to recent police killings of unarmed Black people.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter H.E.R. delivers the painful words that has become a rallying cry for a movement. On Wednesday (June 10), she debuted the new song, "I Can't Breathe," which described as "very painful" and "very revealing," during iHeartRadio's Living Room Concert Series.

The Filipina American blues artist sang: "What is a gun to a man that surrenders / What's it gonna take for someone to defend her / If we all agree that we're equal as people / Then why can't we see what's evil?" Then, Floyd's words reverberate throughout an explosive chorus: "I can't breathe / You're taking my life from me / I can't breathe / Will anyone fight for me?"

“Praying for change ’cause the pain makes you tender,” H.E.R. sings. “All of the names you refuse to remember/Was somebody’s brother, friend/Or a son to a mother that’s crying, saying/’I can’t breathe, you’re taking my life from me.'”

“These lyrics were kind of easy to write because it came from a conversation of what’s happening right now, what’s been happening, and the change that we need to see,” said H.E.R., also known as Gabriella Wilson. 

“I think music is powerful when it comes to change and when it comes to healing and that’s why I wrote this song, to make a mark in history. And I hope this song does that.”

Want to hear more? Watch H.E.R.'s entire set for IHeartRadio's concert here.

Sunday Read: Kamala Harris emerging as top contender for Biden's vice president

SCREEN CAPTURE

California's Sen. Kamala Harris endorsed Joe Biden's bid for President.

ANALYSIS

For Asian Americans, it seems we've been down this road before. When Sen. Kamala Harris first announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the Democratic Party in front of her hometown crowd of 20,000, she was immediately catapulted into the frontrunner's position.

Now, it looks as if the California senator is the top choice to become Joe Biden's pick as running mate. Biden said he would announce his choice of vice president August 1.

But as we know, in the year before the first primary, Harris stumbled badly and unable to move above single digit approval in the endless polls. 

At the time, her early exit from the campaign was a major disappointment for her followers, especially among African Americans and Asian Americans but in hindsight, it may have a brilliant move. By dropping out early, Harris stayed out of the dogfight as scrutiny of the remaining presidential hopefuls increased during the rest of the primary season.

She avoided garnering the negative attention given to her questionable claim to be a progressive attorney general. She also avoided the ignominy of dropping further in the polls and embarrassing losses in the early primary states.

In other words, she wisely retreated in order to fight another day. That fight might be as Biden's running mate.

When she dropped out of the presidential running after the Thanksgiving weekend last year, Biden was asked if he would consider Harris for his vice president. 

“My reaction is she’s of first rate intellect, a first rate candidate and a real competitor,” he said to reporters after getting the news that Harris had dropped out of the race. “I have mixed emotions about it because she is really a solid, solid person, and loaded with talent."

Harris' chances improved when Biden committed in March to picking a woman as his running mate. 

The Asian American Action Fund is urging Biden to pick an Asian American running mate. Besides Harris, the PAC also recommended Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. Duckworth, is considered a long-shot for the Democratic ticket.

“As we all know, this choice would be a historic first, during an especially tumultuous time for Asian American Pacific Islanders. This decision will help galvanize the AAPI community as we look to November — and beyond,” Paul Tiao, Co-Founder ofAAAFund said in Medium.

In the letter, the coalition of Asian American Pacific Islander leaders argued:

“API voters can provide the margin of victory in pivotal swing states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, totaling over half a million voters: President Trump won these states by only 77,744 votes in 2016. We would be remiss to lose an opportunity to prove to AAPIs across the country that they are represented, that they have a voice, and that they are valued. Senators Duckworth and Harris are the strongest running mates to do so.”

During Harris' campaign, she was able to draw ont he support of Indian Americans but was hard pressed to register with other Asian ethnic groups. They couldn't figure Harris out, according to AAPI Data, and didn't identify her as an Asian American, even though her mother is from India. Before she dropped out of the race, Harris ran third in fundraising from AAPI donors, behind Biden and Bernie Sanders.
Biden already enjoys the strong support of the African American community considering the alternative. His strong ties with President Obama had put him way ahead of any of the other contenders in gaining the confidence of the Black community.

The events of the last few weeks after the death of George Floyd at the hands of police has done nothing but strengthened Harris' position. Polls say that race relations is now the top concern of voters, surpassing health care and the economy. As a person of Black and Asian heritage, the choice of Harris will hopefully act as a bridge with voters of color.

That would seemngly eliminate top contenders Senators Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar, both of whom also ran for president, but were unable to gain any cache´ among Black voters. Biden needs someone who can energize the Black community to come out to vote.

Harris was hurt in the run-up to the primaries because of questions of her role as San Francisco's District Attorney and as California's Attorney General. Lara Bazelon, a  University of San Francisco School of Law professor did major damage to Harris campaign. Bazelon argued that Harris was not a “progressive prosecutor” and “was often on the wrong side of history when she served as California’s attorney general.”

Since then, and especially after Floyd's death, Harris has spent much of the last year positioning herself as a Congressional leader for police reform that might mollify her left-leaning critics. Even Bazelon has commended her “as someone who really is on the right side of these issues and that carries weight,” as she told Politico earlier this month.

Leaving no doubt on her position, Harris stated: “The charges brought against the officer who murdered George Floyd are a start, but the other involved officers must also be held accountable immediately. In recent days, we’ve been forced to confront the tragic and horrific killings of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, and now, George Floyd in Minnesota. These are not isolated incidents, but the result of broader systematic racism that exists in our country. And we remember the countless Black Americans who never had a chance at justice because no one recorded a video of their killings. Police brutality is a matter of life and death for Black people in this country, and we have to be clear about the injustices within our criminal justice system and demand accountability to the communities law enforcement are sworn to protect and serve.”

There are other women of color who might fill some check marks Biden sees as necessary for a good vice president, a position he is very familiar with.

But none of them -- Susan Rice, Stacey Abrahms, Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms, -- have the experience of running for president and the pressures that came with that. Her experience in the Senate as an aggressive questioner as a member of the Justice Committee made Trump nominees for the bench shake, is a plus because the vice president often is the President's point person in Congresional matters. 

In a TV interview, Biden said he wants a “strong” vice president who is “ready to be president on day one.” Harris, at 55 years of age, is young enough to counter any doubters about Biden's age, 77. If elected, he would become the oldest President ever elected and questions about his age and whether or not he would be up for a second term is still a consideration for  Democratic Party leaders. If Biden decided not to run for a second term, Harris would be only 59, prime time for a President, plus four more years of experience on the national and international stage.

TWITTER / KAMALA HARRIS

When Sen Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are together, there seems to be a real rapport.

Plus, there is another intangible: Biden and Harris appear to genuinely like each other. Biden grew immensely close to Obama as his vice president and it is assumed he would want a similar relationship with whoever he picked to fill that role as a confidante, a role he played in Obama's White House.

During the campaign, Jill Biden and Harris' husband, Douglas Emhoff, became friends and have maintained that relationship since Harris suspended her campaign.

In the early months of the campaign, when the Biden and Harris ran into each other in Washington, Harris jumped out of her car and enthusiastically hugged Biden, who had not yet declared his candidacy. "Hey, Joe," she yelled and jumped out of the car to have an aide take a joyful picture of the two.

"She loves the Vice President," said Bakari Sellers, a former Harris supporter who is now backing Biden. "That interaction that they had in Miami is just a small blip on the timeline when it comes to their relationship."

Sellers is referring to the first debate in Miami, when Harris caught Biden off guard bringing attention to Biden's support for two segregationist senators. Her attack put her out front for a few weeks but that lead soon dissipated.

When she dropped out of the race, the longest conciliatory phone call she had was with the former vice president.

At a fundraiser last week, Biden recalled a moment when he ran into Harris in Philadelphia after his son's death and she gave the former vice president a hug and told him, "I love you, and I loved Beau," whom she had grown close to when both were attorneys general of their respective states.

"I won't forget that," Biden said.

If Biden chooses Harris and the duo wins the election, Harris would fulfill a number of firsts: First female Vice President; First Black Vice President; First Asian American Vice President.

Although Harris appears to be the top contender today, Aug. 1 is still a long way off and anything can happen to derail what appears to be increasing pressure for Biden to name Harris to round out the ticket.

While Asian Americans might fulfill their voting trend to go with the Democrats and their hopes run high for the chance to help make history, no one is holding their breath. Already, Trump's powerful and influential media is beginning to stir things up by siding with Harris' progressive critics in questioning Harris' law enforcement credentials. 

The Trump campaign has been wooing Hindu Americans by emphasizing Trump's close ties with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Picking an African American to be his running mate may no longer just be a political expediency or a canny campaign move by Joe Biden,” writes The Daily Beast’s Molly Jong-Fast writes in Vogue. “After the events of the past week, it may just be the right thing to do.”

Asian and Asian American celebrities speak out on injustice, racism, George Floyd

Henry Golding and his wife Liv Lo marched in Los Angeles.

The video-recorded death of George Floyd, is forever seered into the world's mind. Asian American celebrities have joined the movement against racial injustice, protesting against the prevailing systemic racism and voicing their opinions on social media, urging their fans to take a stand. 

Celebrities often get criticized for making political or controversial statements but they would not be human beings if they haven't been emotionally impacted by Floyd's death and formed some opinions on the subject of race in America, circa 2020. 

Actor Daniel Wu, creator and star of Into the Badlands, wrote an essay in  The Undefeated, (June 8, 2020), in a form of a letter to his late idol, Bruce Lee, in which he touched on the hate attacks against Asian Americans and protests that followed the horrific death of George Floyd at the hands of the police.

DANIEL WU

"Knowing that just my face alone can elicit so much hate, anger and violence is jarring. I am scared. Scared for the vulnerable. Scared for my daughter and her future in this country. And I am also angry. Angry at the systems in place that continually divide us. Angry that my status as an American is conditional. Angry that things haven’t changed. And this is just in the Asian American community. Recent events have shown that it is obviously far worse for the African American community, where hundreds of years of oppression have led to yet another killing of a black man at the hands of the police. It’s infuriating.

"I want to fight. Part of me wants to be provoked so I can lash out — smash them in the face like you smashed that sign to pieces. End it all with a flying kick. But this isn’t a movie and the solution is not as simple as knocking out the bad guy and saving the day. I initially started this letter hoping that you could impart your wisdom to me and tell me what to do in these dark times. But I understand what I need to do," Wu wrote.

"This pandemic cannot be knocked out with one swift kick, and neither can systemic racism. A small trickle of water can eventually cut through the toughest rock. It is constantly flowing and moving forward. When met with an obstacle, it does not stop but flows around it and eventually consumes it. When pushed, it moves out of the way but does not get pushed back. It can flow and it can crash and this is how we must face this fight. Whether white, black, brown or yellow, we must face these times with strength, empathy and compassion, and implore others to do the same while making sure not to get caught in the trap of becoming stone. We must remember that it’s imperative to join the other groups fighting this fight because they have been dealing with much worse for much longer, and only with solidarity can we form lakes and oceans to extinguish the flames of racism. 

In reference to his boyhood idol, Lee, Wu concluded, "Most importantly, as an individual, I must persevere and keep pushing, keep flowing. I must be water."

INSTAGRAM

Dwayne Johnson taped his post from his home in Los Angeles.

In a video posted on his Instagram account, action star Dwayne Johnson called out Donald Trump. In a powerful plea, the Samoan American called for change following Floyd’s death, asking for the country’s leaders to “normalize equality.”

“Past few days I’ve been stunned trying make sense of George Floyd’s death,” Johnson said via a post he shared on both Twitter and Instagram. “The video. The plea for breath. The callous response. The racism. The killing. This is our ongoing disease. I’ve had cops in my family. Good men. And there’s a cop code, granting you the authority to use force if your life is in danger. But when a man is handcuffed, on the ground, no longer a threat, with your brothers in arms standing around watching and he struggles to say, ‘please I can’t breathe’ when your knee is on his neck.. not his back, but his neck – cutting off his air. Cop code must become moral code. Ethics code. HUMANITY code.”

He went on: “Knowing that if you don’t ease up, then that man is going to die. So when you decide to not ease up, your intention is to kill. And that’s what this was. George Floyd, said ‘officer I can’t breathe’ as he struggled for air. He said these words a total of 15 times. Not once. Not twice. 15 times. These officers will be charged, I’m positive of that. Held accountable. But then where’s the greater accountability? The leadership to healing. More importantly, the leadership to EQUALITY. We ultimately win when we can normalize equality. I’m so sorry to the Floyd family. My heart breaks for you. Let the process begin now. #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd #NormalizeEquality.”

Popular South Korean band BTS donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter (BLM) in support of U.S. protests against police brutality, its music label, Big Hit Entertainment, told Reuters on Sunday.

On Thursday, the seven-member BTS wrote on its Twitter account that they are against racism and violence with the hashtag BlackLivesMatter.

“We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.”

The K-pop group donated $1M to Black Lives Matters and their fans, known as the Army, matched the donation in a matter of hours.

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, who has a following of 667,000, was a whirlwind of activity on her Twitter account. Here are some of her tweets:

In a recent tweet, Kumail Nanjiani said that the perspective of people towards police has changed after hundreds of videos surfaced on social media shows cops using ‘excessive force’ to bring the chaos under control. He further said that people who did not think police brutality was an issue, ‘now believe police reform to be essential’. Kumail Nanjiani's tweet has garnered over one lakh likes.

"End this race war here in the US, and around the world. Wherever you live, whatever your circumstances, NO ONE deserves to die, especially at the hands of another because of their skin colour," actress Priyanka Chopra (Quantico) posted on Instagram.

However, her comments came back to bite her when trolls called ehr out on social media for previously promoting an "intense fairness moisturiser".

INSTAGRAM

PRIYANKA CHOPRA