Amazon removes children's t-shirt depicting George Floyd's death after backlash, slammed for 'racial disrespect'
Amazon has decided to retract a controversial children's t-shirt from its US store after it faced intense customer backlash online. The t-shirt showed the disturbing image of now-former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of 46-year-old George Floyd while arresting him. Floyd repeatedly said he was unable to breathe but Chauvin paid no heed.
Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes in a video that went viral and sparked outrage not just in the US but across the world. In a statement to BBC, Amazon confirmed that "the product in question is no longer available".
The garment, certainly made in poor taste, had been made available on Amazon for around $14.99 (£11.70) and had been listed by a third-party reseller. The item had been captioned "against violent law enforcement" and "state of the art" and "great for casual wear" by the seller. Amazon also shared that the account was being "investigated". The retail giant's guidelines do not permit products that show a crime scene.
The item had been put on sale alongside some other clothing that was targeted at all those who are supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. The original listing has been removed but there are other examples of t-shirts and baseball caps that have "against violent law enforcement" written on it. Amazon has marked these as out of stock. In their statement, Amazon said, "All sellers must follow our selling guidelines, and those who do not will be subject to action including potential removal of their account. The product in question is no longer available."
The t-shirt was flagged to the BBC by an Amazon employee who was disgusted by it.
Social media users were left outraged at the news of the t-shirt being sold on Amazon and left many comments about the same. One such user shared, "And it’s a child wearing it. What the actual f&ck?"
A second wrote, "Who would sell this atrocity? Who the hell would buy it?" A third commented saying, "Who the hell would want to wear a T-shirt like this in the first place? Disgusting!"
"The level of racist disrespect is unreal," shared another.
An official post-mortem examination declared Floyd's death as a homicide on Monday, June 1. We had earlier reported that experts hired by Floyd's family and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, both ruled his death as a homicide. According to a lawyer for the Floyd family, Benjamin Crump, "Beyond doubt, he would be alive today if not for the pressure applied to his neck by officer Chauvin and the strain on his body by two other officers. The ambulance was his hearse."
Many celebrities took to various social media platforms to express their disgust and outrage at the incident. Singer Ciara shared, "My heart can't take it, seeing what’s happened to #GeorgeFloyd. This is eerily similar to the death of #EricGarner. There has to be a stopping point in the process of arresting someone. It’s all senseless," she added.
The incident has been compared to the 2014 death of Eric Garner who died after being choked by the police.