A video has gone viral of a black police officer in Georgia refusing to ‘take a knee’ while on duty at the protests over the killing of George Floyd.
Taking a knee has become the symbol of the movement, whereby individuals show respect, and protest, by kneeling. The imagery is highly symbolic for two reasons. One, it was due to police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Mr. Floyd’s neck that caused his death and, two, NFL star Colin Kaepernick had famously ‘taken a knee’ during the national anthem over previous killings of black people by US law enforcement. The gesture has now been repeated at every protest across the US and in countries around the world, in many cases police officers have joined in this gesture of solidarity.
The police officer in this video however, taken in Hartwell, Georgia, refuses to take a knee stating that he only kneels before one person – God.
State trooper O’Neal Saddler says in the video:
“If I didn’t have any respect, I wouldn’t [be here] … I was supposed to be out of town this weekend with my wife. I took off today, this weekend, but I’m out here to make sure y’all are safe.”
When he is asked by a demonstrator why he is refusing to take the knee he said:
“Don’t go there with respect, OK? I have much respect, but I only kneel for one person.”
The demonstrator then asks:
“God?”
Which the state trooper confirms.
Watch how this Georgia State Trooper, identified as O’Neal Saddler, responds when he's asked to kneel by protesters...
— Uncle Sam's Children (@UncleSamsNation) June 8, 2020
"I only kneel for one person... pic.twitter.com/El3V9qN4My
The officer received mostly positive responses to the video with one twitter user – ‘Nic’ saying:
‘We’re Americans. Kneeling is not in our culture’.
We're Americans. Kneeling is not in our culture!
— Nic (@NicJohn29110293) June 8, 2020
Protests continue across the world in response to the killing and against racism in general. In Bristol, UK, a statue of a former slave trader was pulled down and then thrown into a nearby river, to cheers from the crowd.
The statue of racist slave trader Edward Colston has been toppled in #Bristol. Now continues the struggle to topple racism. #BlackLivesMattters #BLMbristol pic.twitter.com/GYi9DlC4ov
— The Bristol Cable (@TheBristolCable) June 7, 2020
The moment a statue of slave trader Edward Colston toppled into Bristol’s harbour. ‘It’s what he deserves. I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment’ someone told me in the moments after. pic.twitter.com/6juqVrsJ6V
— Sarah Turnnidge (@sarah_turnnidge) June 7, 2020
Similar scenes in Belgium have resulted in the removal of a statue of King Leopold II, who oversaw the deaths of as many as 10 million people in the Congo during Belgium’s colonial rule over the country.
Meanwhile, at Oxford University, protestors have gathered to demand the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes, a 19th century imperialist who plundered Africa.
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