Jax makes heartfelt plea to get justice for ‘twin’
Ex-NBAer Jackson speaks at rally for friend Floyd
You may know Stephen Jackson as Captain Jack, or the streaky shooter who caught fire for the 2003 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.
You may know him for his role in the 2004 Malice at the Palace, where a hard foul at the end of a game between the Pistons and Pacers turned into a brawl between players and fans.
You may know him as a scorer on any one of the eight NBA teams he played for in his career.
You may even know him as the co-host of the “All the Smoke” podcast he orchestrates with former NBA irritant Matt Barnes.
But none of that matters now. Jackson only wants you to know him as one thing: The brother of George Floyd, the Black man who was arrested, then died while in custody of four Minneapolis police officers, including officer Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and fifty-three seconds despite Floyd being dead after six.
Put quite simply: Floyd could not breathe. Chauvin did not seem to care.
Jackson, who grew up in Port
Arthur, Texas, knew Floyd for 20 years and regularly visited his friend in Houston. Captain Jack captained the ship for hundreds of frustrated, confused, angry protestors who gathered for Jackson’s press conference in Minneapolis on Friday — a conference with a cameo appearance from Timberwolves star center Karl-Anthony Towns, and an additional guest speaker in Jamie Foxx.
“I’m here because they are not [about to] demean the character of George Floyd — my twin,” Jackson said. “A lot of times, when police do something they know is wrong, the first thing they try to do is cover it up and bring up your background, to make it seem like the bulls—t that they did was worthy. When was murder ever worthy?
“But if it’s a black man, it’s approved. You can’t tell me when that officer had his knee on my brother’s neck, taking his life away, with his hand in his pocket, that that smirk on his face didn’t say, ‘I’m protected.’”
Chauvin was not arrested for the murder of George Floyd on the same day Floyd’s life was taken. He was not arrested the day after, either. It took Minneapolis PD four days to arrest the man, despite video evidence going viral on social media the same day.
Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter — not the firstdegree murder charge many are calling for.
“I’m at the point where I’m tired of being the bigger person,” Jackson said. “Since they’re not giving us no answers, we’ve gotta come up with our own answers, and we’re willing to do that. Understand that. We’re willing to do that. We’re gonna use our platform. I’m gonna use everything I have to get a conviction, to get all these motherf——rs in jail, excuse my French, I’m angry, but I’m a proud Black man.
“You can’t tell me that [Chauvin] didn’t feel that it was his duty to murder my brother, and that he knew he was gonna get away with it. You can’t tell me that wasn’t the look on his face. We see it so many times. We see it right in our face and we don’t get any justice.”
Floyd is the latest Black person to die at the hands of police brutality in the recent months and recent years. In March, Louisville police officers forced their way into Breonna Taylor’s home and shot her eight times while attempting to serve her a warrant for a narcotics investigation whose suspect had already been apprehended.
There is also what happened to Christian Cooper over Memorial Day weekend; he was forced to videotape after asking a white woman to put her dog on a leash in Central Park. The woman, Amy Cooper, told 9-1-1 operators “there is an African American man threatening my life” and to “send the cops immediately.” The video went viral, and Cooper was later fired from her job.
And of course, there is Ahmaud Arbery, who was gunned down by two white men while jogging in his own neighborhood in Brunswick, Ga. Arbery was killed on Feb. 23. The men were not charged until May.
Protestors have been active in the aftermath of Floyd’s killing. The president threatened to send the National Guard to Minneapolis if the protests didn’t calm down.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump tweeted on Thursday in a post flagged by Twitter for “glorifying violence.” “Just spoke to [Minnesota] Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”
Jackson recently appeared on ABC’s Nightline, where he told co-anchor Juju Chang protestors will calm down once justice is served.
“You’re going to see more and more stuff going on which I don’t agree with, but people are not getting justice,” Jackson told Chang. “Just losing a job is not enough. These people are really hurt. You’re taking someone’s life just because you can, because you know you’re protected. … It’s going to get worse. Trust me, it’s going to get worse.”
“So let’s get this right. Make these men pay for what they’ve done to my brother and keep the peace.”