George Floyd was murdered on May 25th while he was being arrested for using a counterfeit 20 dollar bill at a convenience store he had frequently been to. The arresting officer Derek Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder after a video showed him kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes to restrain him.
This action and the response as well as the video of the killing of Floyd has reignited the anger of black and ethnic minorities towards the Police and their seemingly heavy-handed tactics towards minorities. This anger has resulted in protests, riots, and looting across the United States.
Last week with riots happening in Washington DC, President Trump was moved to a secure bunker for his safety and with Over 100 U.S. cities having protests there is great concern that much more needs to be done to address the murder.
Derek Chauvin currently remains the only officer to be charged with any criminal wrongdoing and people around the country are outraged at what occurred and want the other officers who participated in the murder to have charges pressed against them as well.
As the investigation into the murder of Floyd continues it has come to light that one of the accompanying officers; Tou Thao, has a history of police brutality with multiple complaints against him, some of them coming while on duty with Chauvin in the past. The fact that no other officers have been charged despite standing by and allowing Floyd’s death to happen remains a huge source of anger.
Politicians all across America responded to the death of George Floyd:
- President Donald Trump said,”I understand the hurt. I understand the pain. People have really been through a lot. The family of George is entitled to justice and the people of Minnesota are entitled to live in safety”.
- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a press release,”Our hearts ache for the family of George Floyd and the entire Minneapolis community. On Monday, our nation witnessed a man being murdered on TV. It is outrageous that it took a week and national outcry to finally begin the process of seeking justice for George Floyd. We must remain vigilant and ensure a complete and credible investigation to guarantee that all those responsible are fully brought to justice. While we respect the difficult role of law enforcement to keep our communities safe, we also expect them to fulfill their duty with respect for the rights of all Americans. We will not rest until justice has been done and will continue to insist on the truth that Black Lives Matter”.
- Presumtive Democratic Presidential Nominee Joe Biden said, “Once again — the words ‘I can’t breathe.’ An act of brutality so elemental, it did more than deny one more black man in America his civil rights and his human rights. It denied his very humanity. It denied him of his life. The pain is too immense for one community to bear alone. I believe it’s the duty of every American to grapple with it and grapple with it now. With our complacency, our silence, we are complicit in perpetuating these cycles of violence. Nothing about this will be easy or comfortable, but if we simply allow this wound to scab over once more without treating the underlying injury, we’ll never truly heal. The very soul of America is at stake”
- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “Americans from coast to coast have been grieved and horrified by the killings of African American citizens: Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and George Floyd in Minneapolis. In each disturbing situation, investigations and reviews are ongoing. We need the truth, and we need swift justice under law. But here is something that requires no investigation: In no world whatsoever should arresting a man for an alleged minor infraction involve a police officer putting his knee on the man’s neck for nine minutes while he cries out ‘I can’t breathe’ and then goes silent. These disturbing events do not look like three isolated incidents. They look more like the latest chapters in our national struggle to make equal justice and equal protection of the law into facts of life for all Americans, rather than contingencies that sometimes depend on the color of one’s skin”.
