Protesters told The Jerusalem Post that they organized the protest after border police officers shot & killed Iyad al-Halak in Jerusalem this morning and George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Protest tonight in #TelAviv against police racism. Protesters told me they organized the protest after border police officers shot & killed Eyad Hallaq in #Jerusalem this morning and #GeorgeFloyd in #Minneapolis pic.twitter.com/EVF2tsEEp6
— Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) May 30, 2020
Halak, a 32-year-old special needs student and resident of Wadial-Joz in east Jerusalem, was killed on his way to school on Saturday morning, Israel Police said in a statement.
According to the statement, police officers who were stationed near Jerusalem’s Lion’s Gate noticed a young man holding a “suspicious object” that they said looked like a gun, and told him to stop in his tracks, after which the man began to flee.
On Saturday afternoon Israel border police issued a statement reacting to a number of comments made that morning by officials, calling them "blatant and irresponsible generalizations."
They added that police and border police work is a complex task involving complex decisions, and that officers risk their lives every day in protection of Israel.
Additionally they urged the public to "not draw conclusions until investigations were over," and reminded the public of the "number of brutal attempts to harm and kill border police in the Old City and surrounding areas."
The Center for Racism Victims called on police to stop the racist incitement that leads to murder.
"We are calling on the police to stop the policy of opening fire without proper precautions towards Arabs, Ethiopians, and people with dark skin.
"The incitement towards minority members in general and the demonization of the Arab minority in Israel in particular make them targets of negligent firing by police, security guards and other weapon carriers in Israel."
In Minnesota, the full Minnesota National Guard was activated for the first time since World War Two after four nights of sometimes violent protests that have spread to other US cities following the killing of a black man by a white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said the deployment was needed because outsiders were using the demonstrations over the death of George Floyd to spread chaos, and that he expected Saturday night's protests to be the fiercest so far.
From Minneapolis to New York City, Atlanta and Washington, protesters clashed with police late on Friday in a rising tide of anger over the treatment of minorities by law enforcement.
Idan Zonshine, Reuters and Leon Sverdlov contributed to this article. The demonstrations broke out for a fourth night despite prosecutors announcing on Friday that the policeman filmed kneeling on Floyd's neck, Derek Chauvin, had been arrested on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges.
Three other officers have been fired and are being investigated in connection with Monday's incident, which reignited rage that civil rights activists said has long simmered in Minneapolis and cities across the country over persistent racial bias in the U.S. criminal justice system.
The video of Floyd's death, filmed by a bystander, showed the 46-year-old repeatedly pleading with the officers and telling them he could not breathe.