Minneapolis, June 5 (IANS) The US city of Minneapolis bid farewell to George Floyd 10 days after his death in police custody which triggered the country's largest racial justice protests of the 21st century.

Floyd's funeral will take place in Texas on June 9, but on Thursday a memorial service was held in Minneapolis, the city in which he had lived for the past few years and where he was killed on May 25, reports Efe news.

"George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks. Because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed to be is you kept your knee on our neck," Reverend Al Sharpton said in a eulogy.

Passersby made videos of the incident with their mobile phones that showed Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling with his full body weight on Floyd's neck after he had been handcuffed and placed facedown on the pavement.

During the first several minutes, Floyd complained that he could not breathe and pleaded for help.

He then lost consciousness, although Chauvin remained kneeling on his neck for several minutes.

"What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services and in every area of American life. It's time for us to stand up in George's name and say: get your knee off our necks," the Reverend said.

On Wednesday, the attorney general of Minnesota, Keith Ellison, said the charge against Chauvin has been upgraded to second-degree murder from the charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter levelled against him on May 29.

Meanwhile, three other police officials who were present during Floyd's arrest, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder.

Also on Thursday, Judge Paul R. Scoggin set bail at $1 million each for the three officers, or $750,000 under certain conditions, including that they do not work in law enforcement or have contact with Floyd's family.

Chauvin however, will not appear before a judge until next week

On the 10th day of protests in the US, many cities that had experienced nights of violence, chaos and looting, particularly in Washington and Los Angeles, lifted curfew restrictions following largely peaceful protests and no disturbances.

In New York, however, with the curfew still in force, the large deployment of police in the city helped disperse protesters and detain all those who have resisted leaving the streets on a day when the heavy protests reduced a little.

In Buffalo, New York, two police personnel were suspended after they pushed a 75-year-old man to the ground and left him bleeding and unconscious.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called the incident "wholly unjustified and utterly disgraceful," while the man hospitalized is in a stable condition.

In Salt Lake City, Utah, the authorities detained a man who last week brandished a machete and later a bow and arrow and shouted "Yes, I am American. All lives matter", in a counterpoint to "black lives matter", which is championed in the protests.

Pandemic of racism killed George Floyd: Family lawyer

 Benjamin Crump, the lawyer for the family of George Floyd, who died under police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis, said that it was the "pandemic of racism" that killed the unarmed African-American man.

"It was not the coronavirus pandemic that killed George Floyd," Xinhua news agency quoted Crump as saying on Thursday during the first memorial for Floyd since his brutal killing.

"The other pandemic that we're far too familiar with in America, the pandemic of racism and discrimination that killed George Floyd."

An autopsy report issued by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office on Wednesday revealed that Floyd had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on April 3.

Hennepin's medical examiner ruled that the death was caused due to "cardiopulmonary arrest" when Floyd was restrained by several police officials on May 25.

Two earlier autopsies found that Floyd's death was a homicide. However, they differed on the question of the cause of death.

An independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd's family found that he died due to "asphyxiation from sustained pressure".

In a packed auditorium on Thursday at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis, the Floyd family, civil rights advocates, Minnesota state officials, and federal lawmakers including Senator Amy Klobuchar and Representative Ilhan Omar, as well as celebrities, gathered to pay tributes.

"We don't want two justice systems in America. One for black and one for white," Crump said, echoing his own words a day earlier ahead of the announcement of charges against the cops involved.

"What we endeavour to achieve is equal gestures for the United States of America."

Prior to the memorial, hundreds of Minneapolis residents paid their tribute to Floyd by laying wreaths at a makeshift memorial site near the store where he died.

"All these people came to see my brother. And that is amazing to me that he touched so many people's hearts," the victim's brother Philonise Floyd said at the memorial.

"Everybody wants justice, we want justice for George. He's going to get it. He's going to get it," he said.

Floyd's death has instigated nationwide protests against police abuse and racial discrimination at a time when the nation is still grappling with the spread of the coronavirus.

Although violent rioting has by and large subsided, peaceful demonstrations continued following Wednesday's announcement that Derek Chauvin, the one who kept kneeling on Floyd's neck even as he lost consciousness, was charged with second-degree murder, and that the three others received charges of aiding and abetting murder.

"I'm proud of the protests, but I'm not proud of the destruction. My brother wasn't about that," Terrace Floyd, another brother the victim, said in Brooklyn, New York, where a memorial service was being held simultaneously.

At the Minneapolis memorial, civil rights activist Alfred Sharpton said the reason African Americans have been marginalized is that the country kept its "knee on our necks".

"We had creative skills, we could do whatever anybody else could do, but we couldn't get your knee off our neck," he said.

"What happened to Floyd happens every day in this country, in education, in health services, and in every area of American life. It is time for us to stand up in George's name and say, get your knee off our necks."

NYC unveils plan for expanded outdoor dining

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a plan that would give restaurants more space for outdoor dining after the city reopens.

New York City is set to enter phase one of reopening on June 8 and outdoor dining is now permitted in phase two, as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday, reports Xinua news agency.

De Blasio said at his daily briefing on Thursday that he expected New York City to enter phase two as early as the beginning of July, when the city will allow temporary use of open space for restaurants to maintain social distancing while at the same time maximizing their customer base.

According to the plan, restaurants can set tables in the curbside and sidewalks, and those along the 100-mile open streets developed by the city can use the space in front of their establishments.

Various regulations will be applied to specific situations.

The City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, and the Department of Transportation will monitor the success of this program and will step in if it creates concerns, according to a statement issued by the mayor's office on Thursday.

"Our restaurant owners need help now more than ever and have shared their concerns about traditional practices. This plan will enliven our commercial corridors and provide businesses with a much-needed opportunity to generate further revenue while maintaining safety," said Jonnel Doris, commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, in the statement.

Seven of 10 regions in New York State have stepped into phase two of reopening, during which real estate companies, vehicle sales, hair salons, outdoor and take-out food service, among others, are allowed to restart operating.

New York City is the only region in the state that is still under the "PAUSE" order due to COVID-19 with all non-essential businesses closed.

US unemployment claims climbed by 1.88 mn last week

The number of US unemployment claims totalled 1.88 million last week as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep the nation, the Labour Department reported.

In the week ending May 30, the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits decreased by 249,000 from the prior week to 1,877,000, the ninth weekly decline in a row but remaining staggeringly high, Xinhua news agency quoted the Department as saying on Thursday.

With the latest numbers, 42.6 million initial jobless claims have been filed over the past 11 weeks, meaning that nearly 28 per cent of all Americans employed in February lost their jobs, at least temporarily, according to Tim Quinlan, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.

"Last week we were excited to see that continuing claims fell, indicating that gross hiring had picked up enough to pull down the number of people receiving benefits.

"There was no such consolation this week, as they rose again to 21.5 million," Quinlan said on Thursday.

The Labour Department is expected to release its jobs report in May on Friday.

US employers cut a staggering 20.5 million jobs in April, and the unemployment rate soared to a record 14.7 per cent.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, a major accounting firm, believed that US unemployment will remain painfully high in May and throughout the summer.

"We can be hopeful that the economy may be hitting bottom but we need a new language that goes well beyond recession and recovery to describe the persistent pain triggered by COVID-19," Swonk tweeted Thursday.

Fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will shrink the size of the US economy by $7.9 trillion over the next decade, according to new projections issued by the Congressional Budget Office on Monday.