Even in the middle of a pandemic, police violence against the Black community persists.
The nation is up in arms after yet another Black man was killed, this time in front of a crowd in Minneapolis. Police were reportedly called down in response to a “forgery in progress.” When they arrived the victim, George Floyd, was asked to step out of his vehicle and he did. Police claim he then began to resist arrest, according to CBS News.
Video of George Floyd’s final moments show him pleading with officers while gasping for air. The crowd recording the incident is trying to get the officer to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck. Floyd tells the officer “My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. … (I need) water or something. Please. Please. I can’t breathe, officer. … I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe.”
So far, the four officers involved have been fired, as announced by Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey.
“Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated. This is the right call,” Mayor Frey tweeted, adding during a press conference: “For the better part of the night I’ve been trying to find the words to describe what happened and all I keep coming back to is that he should not have died… what we saw was horrible, completely and utterly messed up,” he said. “This man’s life matters, he matters. He was someone’s son, someone’s family member, someone’s friend. He was a human being and his life mattered.”
Now, the Black community is calling for justice for George Floyd.
May he rest in peace. We are praying for SWIFT justice at this time.