Chomsky: Protests Unleashed by Murder of George Floyd Exceed All in US History Thousands gather for the "Get Your Knee Off Our Necks" march on the anniversary of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 2020. John Lamparski / NurPhoto via Getty Images By There has been ânothing comparable in American historyâ to the huge outpouring of protest unleashed by the murder of George Floyd, says world-renowned intellectual Noam Chomsky. Even at the very peak of Martin Luther King Jr.âs popularity, the mass protests that King led and inspired âdidnât come anywhere closeâ to the massive racial justice protests that have erupted over this past year, Chomsky adds.