George Floyd death: Kin want white cop who kneeled on neck for 'sickening' 8 minutes to be charged with murder
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: The heartbroken family of a black man, George Floyd, has demanded that the Minneapolis officer, who is shown kneeling over his neck during his arrest in a video, be charged with murder, along with other cops at the scene.
A video clip of the arrest revealed the brutality that saw a white cop keeping his knee pressed onto the man's neck even as he begged to be let go because he couldn't breathe. Two of Floyd's cousins said the cops 'murdered our cousin' and that firing those involved was just a 'start', the Daily Mail reported. The family lawyer has called for the cop in question, Derek Chauvin, to be charged with murder and the other three officers involved to be charged as murder accomplices.
The lawyer shared that Chauvin had knelt on Floyd's neck for a sickening eight minutes. "Please," the man can be heard pleading. "Please, please I can't breathe." The shocking video clip was taken on Monday, May 25, and shows Floyd begging the police to stop as he repeatedly said he was unable to breathe before he lost consciousness.
Floyd later lost his life after officers arrested him for allegedly trying to use forged documents at a local deli. The four disgraced police officers were from the Minneapolis Police Department and have been fired as a result of the incident. The FBI and state law enforcement officials have launched an investigation into Floyd's death. While doing an interview with TMX. news, Floyd's grieving family said they had watched the sickening footage on the news before realizing that it was their 'baby cousin'.
Cousin Shareeduh Tate said, "I actually saw it before knowing it was my cousin – I saw it on Gayle King. And I remember thinking how devastating this would be for the family who have lost their family member like this… then about five minutes after that I got a phone call saying that it was my cousin."
She thanked the bystanders who had been heard in the footage imploring with the officer to stop and warned them that they were killing the man. "I can’t thank them enough. We always see these kinds of things take place and we always wonder what we would do in that position and we’re so grateful… and even more so grateful for the person who was there with a camera to capture it as so many times there is not a witness around and it’s questionable as to what has happened," Tate added.
Tate shared how the firing of the officers involved was a 'start' but is not enough. She slammed the police for 'murdering' the father of one. "They murdered our cousin," she shared. She also said the news of his death has been especially difficult for his daughter, who is 'not doing well'. Another cousin of Floyd, Tera Brown, dubbed the footage as 'unbelievable' and said, "It's unbelievable to see someone suffering in the way that he did. And to have so many people around asking for them to basically allow him to live."
The attorney for the victim's family, Ben Crump shared, "They were supposed to protect and serve citizens like George. We in black America, we are done dying at the hands of the people that are supposed to protect and serve us."