Protests in Minneapolis over the killing of George Floyd have turned deadly with one person being shot and killed during rioting in the city. Details of the killing remain highly sketchy and so no conclusions can yet be determined about the incident. Fires have been set, looting has taken place and the police have attacked protestors with rubber-bullets, pepper spray and tear-gas over two days of protests against the killing of the unarmed George Floyd.
Floyd was killed on the 25th of May after police officers restrained him during an arrest for suspected forgery. In the videos involving four officers one officer kneels on Floyd’s neck as he is laying handcuffed on the ground – he continues to kneel on his neck for 7 minutes despite the calls by Floyd stating that ‘I can’t breath’, ‘you are going to kill me’ and ‘my neck hurts’ at least a dozen times. Floyd did then pass away.
Throughout the video taken by a bystander it does not appear as though Floyd offers any violent or aggressive resistance against the police officers or that he was trying to flee the scene. CCTV footage also shows that Floyd was not resisting BEFORE he was arrested. As does video evidence from a passenger in a car sitting behind Floyd when he was arrested.
New video sent to us shows the moment George Floyd was removed from his vehicle and handcuffed on 38th and Chicago.
— Alex Lehnert (@AlexLehnertFox9) May 26, 2020
Video courtesy of Christopher Belfrey pic.twitter.com/MiIIula4sA
As to why the officers did not place him in a squad car as oppose to keeping him on the ground remains a mystery. While all four officers have now been dismissed there are calls for prosecution and Floyd’s brother has called for the death penalty.
It can now be revealed that the officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck had over a dozen complaints against his name since joining the police in 2001 and in 2008 shot a woman Ira Latrell Toles in her bathroom when Chauvin claimed she reached for a weapon. Toles survived the incident despite being shot twice in the abdomen.
The killing, which appears completely unjustified and without reason, is the latest in a long line of killings of African-Americans by police officers and has sparked the Black Lives Matter movement to protest against these unjust police actions.
While protests started peacefully, many protestors vented their anger on May 27th and into the early hours of May 28th when a multi-racial crowd advanced on the police headquarters, smashing windows and calling for justice.
Condemnation of the police officers has been widespread, basketball superstar LeBron James posted a picture on Instagram of the officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck alongside a picture of Colin Kaepernick, a US football star who famously knelt during the US national anthem against previous killings of African-Americans by police officers.
A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on
LeBron James then went on to post a picture of Floyd alongside the words ‘We’re hunted’. Kaepernick himself, and British F1 driver Lewis Hamilton also made statements online condemning the killing. Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Lawrence asked on Twitter: “HOW CAN WE FEEL SAFE WHEN THOSE MEANT TO PROTECT US ARE KILLIN’ US?!!!!”
DONE BEING QUIET AND DONE BEING ANGRY. HOW CAN WE FEEL SAFE WHEN THOSE MEANT TO PROTECT US ARE KILLIN’ US?!!!! WHEN WILL MINORITIES BE FREE TO BE AMERICANS IN AMERICA!?
— DeMarcus Lawrence (@TankLawrence) May 26, 2020
President Trump has called the incident ‘a very sad event’ and has asked the FBI to open an investigation.
Minneapolis braces itself for another night of protests as it waits to hear the news as to how a protestor has lost their lives. This sort of incident has not just become an occurrence in the United States but almost part of the day-to-day fabric of the nation, and the repercussions of this event will likely be felt for a long time to come.
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