We all know George Floyd. If you don't, let me tell you.
On the evening of 25th May, George Floyd bought a pack of cigarettes from
a grocery store. The store employee called the police, thinking that the
$20 bill that Floyd paid with was a counterfeit. When the police came, one
of the officers pulled out a gun and ordered Mr. Floyd to put his hands
up. The same officer pulled Mr. Floyd out of the car, and handcuffed him.
A few other officers joined the scene and tried to put Mr. Floyd in the
police squad car. Mr. Floyd fell to the ground and said that he was
claustrophobic. Despite this, a few more officers attempted to get him in
the car. This time, one of the officers pulled Mr. Floyd off of the
passenger side, causing him to fall on the ground. After that, a few
officers restrained Mr. Floyd while one officer placed his knee between
Mr. Floyd's neck and head. For more than nine minutes, the officer keeps
his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck. The recorded footage shows that Mr. Floyd
said more than 20 times that he couldn't breathe. At a point, Mr. Floyd
gasps and says: "You're going to kill me, man." To that, the officer,
Derek Chauvin, says: "Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes heck of a
lot of oxygen to talk."
Can you believe that?
Then Mr. Floyd says: "Can't believe this, man. Mom, love you. Love you.
Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead." About 6 minutes after that, Mr. Floyd
becomes nonresponsive. Bystanders urged the officers to check his pulse.
When officers checked, they couldn't find one. Mr. Floyd was then taken to
a hospital, where one hour later, he was declared dead.
He had a family waiting for him.
All this because he allegedly paid with a counterfeit $20 bill. As
much as it would be convienent to say that this was all because of the
bill, it was not. Racial discrimination was the main reason.