We’ve had all of these hoaxes for all of these years, now all of a sudden we have the real deal. A dead jogger who literally didn’t do nothing.
What I will tell you is this: I’m not defending these cops or any other cops. These so-called “white cops” have been treating us all like a bunch of joggers ever since this lockdown started, taking away our rights, attacking us, throwing us in jail.
At this point, I have significantly less sympathy for the cops than the joggers themselves.
WCCO:
An FBI investigation is underway and four officers have been fired following a fatal encounter Monday between Minneapolis police and an unarmed 46-year-old black man named George Floyd.
According to Minneapolis police, the encounter between Floyd and officers happened just after 8 p.m. Monday, when police were called to the 3700 block of Chicago Avenue South on a report of a man attempting to use forged documents at Cup Foods. WCCO asked a store manager about the police call, but they declined to comment.
Officers found Floyd in a car at the scene. He appeared intoxicated, police say. Officers ordered him to get out of the car.
“After he got out, he physically resisted officers,” police spokesman John Elder told reporters early Tuesday. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and officers noticed that the man was going into medical distress.”
An ambulance brought Floyd to Hennepin Healthcare, where he later died, police say.
Overnight, video of the attempted arrest circulated on social media. Posted by Darnella Frazier on Facebook, the nine-minute video shows a white officer pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck behind a squad car. While lying facedown on the road, Floyd repeatedly groans and says he can’t breathe.
“He’s not even resisting arrest right now, bro,” one bystander tells the white officer and his partner, in the video. “You’re f—ing stopping his breathing right now, you think that’s cool?”
After about five minutes, Floyd stops moving and appears unconscious. People in the gathering crowd plead for the officers to check Floyd’s pulse. The officer on Floyd’s neck does not lift his knee until medical personnel arrive and carry him to an ambulance.
Charles McMillan says he saw it all happen.
“There’s a black man who died and it could have been prevented, because all he had to do was get his feet off his neck,” McMillan said.
Another witness, 9-year-old Judeah Reynolds, spoke to WCCO with her mother present, Diva Reynolds.
“All the adults kept saying, ‘Get off him,’” Judeah Reynolds said.
“They came and woke me up, and the only thing my daughter could tell me is, ‘Mom, they had his knee on his neck and they killed him,’” Diva Reynolds said.
CBS News acquired video of Floyd’s initial arrest, which seems to contradict the claim that he resisted arrested, at least in the early stages of their encounter.
MORE: Video obtained by CBS News shows what appears to be the start of the confrontation between George Floyd & Minneapolis police officers. A restaurant's security footage shows cops taking him into custody, but the restaurant owner says it does not show Floyd resisting arrest. pic.twitter.com/KR8r7B1WPl
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 26, 2020
Thread: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey calls the incident with a 40-something year old black man who died while under arrest “wrong on every level.” A FB video shows an MPD officer pinning the man down as he says he can’t breathe. “This does not reflect the values of MPD.” #wcco pic.twitter.com/f9T6mvMkPI
— Christiane Cordero (@ChristianeWCCO) May 26, 2020
Leaders in Minnesota are calling for the officers involved to be held accountable. Rep. Ilhan Omar, who represents Minneapolis, called for the Department of Justice to investigate immediately.
“It is sickening to watch this black man be killed while helplessly begging for help,” she said in a statement.
Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan also reacted to the incident, calling the video “disturbing” and demanding justice.
“The lack of humanity in this disturbing video is sickening. We will get answers and seek justice,” Walz said.
At a Tuesday morning press conference, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey spoke bluntly about the graphic video, which has circulated widely online.
“Being black in America should not be a death sentence,” Frey said. “What we saw is horrible, completely and utterly messed up.”
This jogger was basically tortured to death by these cops.
I am not going to become an activist for jogger rights. Joggers cause a lot of problems in our society. But joggers don’t have the full weight of the state behind them. It’s not illegal to defend yourself if a jogger attacks you. A jogger gang can’t shut down your business. Joggers can’t burn our Constitution.
Joggers are a minimal threat in comparison to the cops.
And with the cops now in a situation where the masses are turning on them, they’re going to start lashing out more and more. They are allowed to kill us with impunity, and they will.
The cops are the enforcers of this satanic beast 666 system that is coming down on us all. We need to recognize them as an existential threat.
The Jogger-American community is protesting this.
We should probably be standing with them. We have more in common with oppressed joggers than we do with the oppressor cops.
I hate to do it but I gotta do it.
I gotta post this jogger song.
I don’t have any choice.
They have brought me to this.