I Can’t Breathe

Protesters gather near the scene where George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis

Amid a call from an employee at a Minneapolis grocery store for the cops due to a suspected case of forgery of a counterfeit $20 bill, George Floyd was pulled out of the driver’s side of a car by a cop and was led to an area of the sidewalk to sit down. Moments later he ended up face down and kneed on the neck by another police officer ultimately leading to his death as a result of suffocation. 

The thing that makes this event so enraging to many people is the fact that the victim was in no way a threat that needed to be held down in that position. According to a report, “Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck for at least seven minutes. During at least three of those minutes Floyd was handcuffed, lying face down on the road, and pleading for his life. Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd’s neck for around four minutes after he stopped moving.” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_George_Floyd George Floyd, an African-American man was killed by a merciless caucasian-American man. 

The former president of the United States of America, Barack Obama shared some statements he had with some friends about the video of George Floyd’s senseless murder. One came from a middle-aged African-American businessman stating in an email, “Dude I gotta tell you the George Floyd incident in Minnesota hurt. I cried when I saw that video. It broke me down. The ‘knee on neck’ is a metaphor for how the system so cavalierly holds black folks down, ignoring the cries for help. People don’t care. Truly tragic.” https://mobile.twitter.com/BarackObama/status/1266400635429310466?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Although the four officers involved in the incident got fired, George Floyd’s relatives felt that the officers should have been charged with murder. George’s brother Philonise Floyd said, “They treated him worse than they treat animals. They took a life – they deserve life.” https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/27/us/george-floyd-minneapolis-death.html There is a demand for justice for George Floyd as his killing stirred a furious fierce protest days after. The reason why is because so many people, particularly those of the African diaspora, are completely fed up and infuriated with the corrupt and blatantly hate inspired attacks the police system places on people of African descent. This is the true reality of what we as a people are up against.