STANDING UP TO RACISM
Windsor cop speaks out
As a black man and a police officer, Arjei Franklin had a lot to consider before he decided to share with the world his thoughts on the death of George Floyd.
“It was weighing on me heavily,” said Franklin, a constable with Windsor police, in an interview on Wednesday. “I couldn’t be silent on it.”
Last weekend, in a public post on Facebook, Franklin declared his belief that Floyd was murdered — “and it makes me so angry as both a black man and a police officer.”
In his post, Franklin described the tension he feels, as if pushed to “pick a side” between law enforcement and the black community.
“I stand on the side of right against wrong, love against hate, justice against lawlessness,” Franklin wrote.
“When I can fully understand my values, I can declare how I feel without any concern about how I may be viewed … I also realize that standing idly by as hate is carried out is the same as carrying that hate out myself.”
It’s been less than two weeks since George Floyd, a black man, died while being arrested by Minneapolis police — an incident in which police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes, as recorded on witness videos.
Since then, racially-charged protests, riots, looting, and violence have swept across the U.S. and beyond. But Franklin is standing by his opinion.
“I believe that the arrest was completed when George Floyd was secured in handcuffs,” said Franklin on Wednesday. “To use any additional force to restrain him — especially in that way, with the knee pressed against his neck — was a malicious act.”
The Facebook post wasn’t written impulsively: Franklin said he spoke with family, friends, and colleagues before composing it. “Yeah, I was a little nervous. I wasn’t sure how it would be received.”
Asked if he has any worry that his public declaration might alienate him from fellow police officers, Franklin replied: “No, not at all. I know the individuals I work with, and they are outstanding people. I’m confident in the words that I wrote, and I believe that they represent the Windsor Police Service in a positive way.”
On the subject of due process for Chauvin and the other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest, Franklin said he knows that Chauvin’s day in court is yet to come.
However, Chauvin has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
“The appropriate charge is murder,” Franklin said.
Franklin’s athletic career as a former CFL player and University of Windsor Lancers hall-offamer has made him more of a public figure than most Windsor police officers. Along with his Facebook post, he also shared his thoughts in a lengthy article on Sportsnet.ca.
But Franklin believes public figures aren’t the only people who need to be talking about George Floyd, police brutality, and systemic racism.
“I think this is something that everyone needs to talk about,” Franklin said. “I think this situation has struck a chord with humanity. Anyone, as a human being, watching that video, should have a very strong opinion on it, and should be disgusted by what they see.”
Part of Franklin’s motivation for speaking out was his two young sons.
“One day, my children will be looking towards me to see what I had to say about this,” said Franklin, 38. “That’s why I wrote what I wrote.”
Anyone, as a human being, watching that video, should have a very strong opinion on it, and should be disgusted.