'Get your knee off our necks': Reverend Al Sharpton says George Floyd's story is the story of all black folks
Civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton demanded: "get your knee off our necks" while addressing mourners and talking about the death of 46-year-old George Floyd who was killed at the hands of the police. Floyd died after a now-former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for a sickening eight minutes while restraining him. Floyd repeatedly told the officer that he was unable to breathe but the officer did not budge, in a viral video that has sparked nationwide outrage.
While giving a powerful eulogy at a memorial for Floyd in Minneapolis, Rev Sharpton metaphorically compared racial inequalities in the nation to having a "knee on our neck", according to a Fox News report. He said, "George Floyd's story has been the story of black folks because ever since 401 years ago, the reason we could never be who we wanted and dreamed of being, is you kept your knee on our neck."
"We were smarter than the underfunded schools you put us in, but you had your knee on our neck. We could run corporations and not hustle in the street, but you had your knee on our neck. We had creative skills. We could do whatever anybody else could do. But we couldn't get your knee off our necks," he said in the moving eulogy. Many celebrities, civil rights activists, politicians, and family members of Floyd attended the service that both celebrated his life and mourned his death. Floyd's death is one of the latest examples of extreme police brutality and a lack of regard for African American lives.
Sharpton called for all Americans to continue the fight for racial equality that had started hundreds of years ago. "Just like in one era we had to fight slavery, another era we had to fight Jim Crow, another era we dealt with voting rights, this is the era to deal with policing and criminal justice," he said. "We need to go back to Washington and stand up. Black, white, Latino, Arab, in the shadows of Lincoln, and tell them this is the time to stop this," he continued. Sharpton also threw some shade at Donald Trump and the picture of him that was taken in front of St John's church. "I saw a man holding a Bible in front of a church. I've never seen anyone hold a Bible like that," he shared.
"We cannot use Bibles as a prop. And for those who have agendas that are not about justice, this family will not let you use George as a prop," he continued. We had earlier reported that Trump chose to lay low in the secret bunker in the White House as the nation protests the death of George Floyd. In response to all the backlash he received, Trump decided to take the matter in his own hands and revamp his image.
As he made his way to the church, Trump was seen holding a small photo-op with the accessory of his choice being the Bible. When a journalist asked him if he was holding a Bible, he responded affirmatively. While talking to the cameras, people watched in horror as Trump was holding the Bible upside down. He was slammed across social media platforms for the same.