June 1, 2020
Thang Do, PIVOT board member

I am writing these lines shortly after hearing that San Jose, the largest city of this region, just announced a curfew from 8:30 pm to the following morning for an entire week, to avoid the protests that have led to the destruction of property and violence.

In the past few days, there have been protests and violence everywhere including San Jose, after a white policeman in Minneapolis killed a black man by holding him down on the street pavement and pressing his knee against the man’s neck. The policeman stayed in this position for 8 minutes, prompting the victim to shout out: “I can’t breathe.” 3 other policemen, one Asian and two whites, were nearby but took no action to rein in their colleague’s excessive use of force.