PLEASE, PLEASE I CAN’T BREATHE
Fury erupts at clip of police officer kneeling on neck of dying man
POLICE in riot gear fired rubber bullets and tear gas at thousands of defiant demonstrators protesting the death of an unarmed black man killed by a white officer who knelt on his neck for eight minutes.
Four Minneapolis officers involved were fired immediately after shocking footage of George Floyd’s arrest emerged but no charges have yet been brought.
Video, taken by concerned bystanders showed the 46-year-old man handcuffed and helpless on the ground after being detained on suspicion of using a fake dollar bill.
Mr Floyd can be heard begging for mercy as an officer is seen “looking proud” as he appears to put his full body weight on the man’s neck.
Bystanders pleaded with the officer to remove his knee, before and after Mr Floyd went silent.
The death has reignited fears of racial unrest in the United States due to police brutality which flared in July 2014 after black man Eric Garner was choked to death by white police in New York.
On the video, Mr Floyd can be heard repeatedly saying “Please, please, I can’t breathe” reminiscent of Garner’s dying declaration during his arrest on Staten Island.
The Minneapolis officer appears never to ease up, even as Mr Floyd struggled and eyewitnesses begged the officer to lift his knee off the man’s neck during the Monday night arrest. “My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts,” he is heard on the video telling the officer, who ignores calls to show compassion.
“Water or something, please. I can’t breathe.The knee on my neck.”
One of the now-fired officers told Mr Floyd he should “relax.” Another stood by silently as his partner continued to apply force.
The arresting officer pulled a can of pepper spray from his belt when bystanders appeared to move from the pavement toward his parked police car. Witness Charles McMillan, 60, said Mr Floyd called out his mother’s name “and then he died”.
The witness added: “It’s sad because it didn’t have to happen.”
Mr Floyd was seen to pass out before paramedics arrived rushing him to the Hennepin County Medical Centre where he was pronounced dead at 9.25pm.
According to the police, he had been in his car when officers arrived. He got out of the vehicle to “physically resist arrest,” they claimed.
Police said, once placed in handcuffs, he “appeared to be suffering medical distress.” Police said no weapons had been used and the officers’ body cameras were recording.
As phone footage of the incident went viral, police chiefs along with Mayor Jacob Frey of Minneapolis, where one-fifth of the population is African American, fired all those involved as the FBI and state law enforcement authorities launched an investigation.
Mayor Frey said: “It’s the kind of thing where you don’t hide from the truth, you lean into it, because our city is going to be better off for it, no matter how ugly, awful it is.
“If it points out the institutional
racism that we are still working through right now, well, good – it means we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
He added: “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”
The victim’s family have called for the officers to be charged with murder and their lawyer has revealed the name of the officer who was filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd’s neck.
His brother Philonise Floyd said: “They treated him worse than they treat animals. They took a life – they deserve life.”
Yesterday his sister, Bridgett Floyd, added: “I would like for those officers to be charged with murder because that’s exactly what they did.
“They murdered my brother. He was crying for help.”
The dead man worked as a security guard at Conga Latin Bistro. Its owners described him as a “very calm, nice guy” who was not the type to be aggressive or disrespectful.
Jovanni Thunstrom, his boss and landlord, said: “It’s hard to believe a police officer would do that.
“He wasn’t a threat to justify excessive force used on him.
“No one had nothing bad to say about him.” Mr Floyd’s death sparked outrage across America with political figures and celebrities including Cardi B, P Diddy and Demi Lovato voicing their anger.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, condemned the force used by the officers.
He said: “George Floyd deserved better, and his family deserves justice. His life mattered.”
Minnesota governor Tim Walz called the episode sickening. Donald Trump had yet to comment.
On Tuesday fears of possible riots rose as demonstrators increased their demands the officers be charged. Thousand gathered, on a Minneapolis police station, but were met with rubber bullets and tear gas fired by masked officers as the city’s streets descended into chaos.
Organisers pleaded with demonstrators to keep the protest peaceful.
Chants of “I can’t breathe,” and “It could’ve been me,” filled the air.
Demonstrator Marvin Tulles, 34, said: “For too long, too many lives are being lost at the hands of the people sworn in to protect us.
“We are no longer prepared to tolerate these deaths.”