Dennis Rodman pleads with protesters to stop looting: ‘We’re human beings, not f**king animals’
NBA legend Dennis Rodman has called for an end to the looting of stores and establishments during protests in response to the tragic death of George Floyd. He took to social media on Sunday to tell his followers that “we’re human beings, not f**king animals.”
Several businesses, many of them black-owned, were vandalized over the weekend as protests continued to spread after Floyd, a 46-year-old black father of two, was killed in Minneapolis at the hands of a white police officer last week.
“I think someone needs to come out and say, ‘Hey, guys, why are we looting? Why are we stealing? Why are we creating more issues, more problems?'” 59-year-old Rodman said in an Instagram video titled 'Rest in Power George Floyd.'
“This is a bad, bad situation. But the fact that you’re gonna protest, protest in the right way. You don’t have to go and burn down things, steal things, burn things, and stuff like that," he continued.
44-year-old former police officer Derek Chavin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after he pressed his knee against Floyd's neck, killing him soon after. Floyd was suspected of spending a counterfeit $20 bill, according to reports.
Rodman explained that he sympathized with the protests taking place, but stressed that “we have enough issues with” the COVID-19 situation and that resorting to violence was not the solution.
Rodman, known for his eccentric personality as well as his legendary Hall of Fame career, was among a series of athletes and celebrities to discuss the Floyd protests, including his former Bulls teammate Michael Jordan.
Rodman is also a longtime friend of President Donald J. Trump, whose family was forced to move to a bunker on Friday due to violent protests near the White House.
“Please understand … we have to live together,” Rodman said. “We’re human beings, we’re not f**king animals.”
As George Floyd protests continued to spread across the US, looters broke into stores and stole what they could get their hands on. During one such protest in SoHo, Manhattan, miscreants were seen breaking glasses of high-end stores and boutiques and grabbing boxes of clothes, shoes, and accessories while being chased down by the cops.
Several videos depicting the same were widely circulated on the internet, with many expressing concern over their safety as the protest spread like wildfire. The stores that were vandalized by the looters include luxury brands such as Rolex, Gucci, and Apple among many others. People were seen rushing out of broken windows with handfuls of bags and jumping onto the vehicles waiting outside before getting arrested by the cops, who were constantly patrolling the region.
Meanwhile, the White House also felt the heat of the outrage. On Friday, May 29, Secret Service agents rushed President Donald Trump and his family to an underground bunker at their official residence to protect against the possibility of terror attacks. According to a report in The New York Times, it was not clear the specific reason that made the Secret Service make the move, which is deemed extraordinary. The first family was reportedly ‘rattled’ by the same.