George Floyd Incident Triggers Nationwide Protests, Elevating Law and Order as Central Political Issue

The death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of police in Minneapolis in late May 2020 ignited massive protests across the United States, fueling a global resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement through June.

On May 25, George Floyd, an African American man, died in Minneapolis after a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck. The publicized video of the incident instantly ignited public anger over police brutality and systemic racial inequality, sparking one of the largest waves of nationwide protests in U.S. history. Many demonstrations escalated into riots, looting, and arson. The then-President Trump administration adopted a firm stance, prioritizing "Law and Order" and deploying federal law enforcement to respond.

The incident thrust race relations, police accountability, and urban security to the forefront of the 2020 election's political discourse. For conservatives, the focus centered on the need to protect private property, maintain public order, and resist the perceived spread of radical left-wing ideologies. The protests and riots caused significant destruction in many business districts, underscoring that the protection of individual liberty and property rights became a core conservative demand during times of social upheaval.