George Floyd, an African American, was on a food run when someone called the cops on him for trying to pay with a fake $20 bill, and he was later strangled to death by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, a white cop. In the videos I have seen on the internet, Chauvin never acknowledged the fact that Floyd was in pain and struggling to breath. There were bystanders who told the officer to get off of him and to let him breath, but Chauvin never took his knee off of his neck until Floyd was found unconscious. The police officers called the ambulance, and Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
I saw a video on TikTok of a police officer sharing his opinion on the incident, in which he says that police officers were never taught to restrain someone by kneeling on the back of their neck. It disgusts millions of people, including me, around the world to witness an incident like this after knowing everything this country has been through to end racism. Ayesha Curry, a celebrity chef, posted a picture on her instagram page of two extremely different incidents with two extremely different outcomes. The image states that George Floyd, an African American, was suspected of forgery and killed by police, while Dylann Roof, and white supremacist, murdered 9 people and was arrested peacefully. In my opinion, this image shows that this country still has a long way to go before racism ends.
Lebron James
NBA player Lebron James posted a picture on instagram of two images side by side. The picture on the left shows Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, and the one on the right is a picture of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem. Lebron states that this image is an explanation of why Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem, in which he refused to stand for a country that oppresses African Americans.
Cardi B
Rapper Cardi B also took to instagram to express her frustration of the incident by stating “enough is enough! What will it take? A civil war? A new president? Violent riots? It’s tiring! I’m tired! The country is tired! You don’t put fear in people when you do this you just show how cowardly you are! And how America is really not the land of the free!”. People view america as the land of opportunity and the land of the free, but the murder of George Floyd goes against everything America stands for.
Taylor Swift and Donald Trump
Musician Taylor Swift posted a tweet on Twitter, which was directed at Trump saying, “you have the nerve to feign moral superiority before threatening violence? [...] We will vote you out in November”. After the George Floyd incident started protests in Minneapolis, Trump threatened protesters online saying “when looting starts, shooting starts”. Trump had obviously supported the action of putting Derek Chauvin behind bars, but he later took to Twitter to threaten those who protested against police brutality and racism.
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