Abstract:
George Floyd, a 42-year-old African American man, and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was apprehended on 25 May 2020 by four uniformed Minneapolis police for allegedly trying to make a purchase in a local store with a fake $20 bill. The police arrived, ostensibly after having been called by the store owner, as Mr. Floyd was about to drive away. A bystander caught the officers on video as they dragged Mr. Floyd from his car, handcuffed him, and threw him to the ground. At no point did Mr. Floyd offer any resistance. Of the four officers present, one proceeded to put his knee on the neck of Mr. Floyd while two of the other officers dug their knees into Mr. Floyd’s back. The fourth officer stood guard to hold off the crowd that had gathered.For the next 8 minutes and 46 seconds, the first officer, Derek Chauvin, dug his knee into Mr. Floyd’s neck as Mr. Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe. At one point, Mr. Floyd was so desperate that he called out for his mother, who was already deceased. Several of the bystanders pleaded with the officer to remove his knee, but to no avail. After some 6 minutes or so, it was clear that Mr. Floyd was dead, but the officer kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for another two minutes. People saw on social media across the world was the senseless suffering and pain of a man due to his skin color, a clear violation of fundamental human rights as enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mr. Floyd had been brazenly murdered in broad daylight by Officer Derek Chauvin, and his three accomplishes. Their wanton murder of a defenseless Black man resulted in the manifestation of a martyr. Through the global network of Black Lives Matters (BLM), an anti-racist movement on behalf of the martyred George Floyd was launched worldwide!
