Mayor of Minneapolis Calling for the Arrest of Officer Who Knelt on George Floyd's Neck

The tragic death of George Floyd earlier this week has sparked global outrage.

This is yet another unjustified murder of a black person at the hands of the police force, and people are angrily calling for the officers involved to be arrested... including the Mayor of Minneapolis.

Police brutality is an ongoing issue.

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About 1 in 1,000 black men and boys in America can expect to die at the hands of police, according to a new analysis of deaths involving law enforcement officers.

This is not okay...

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Yet nothing seems to be getting done about this imminent problem in our country.

The tragic death of Ahmaud Arbery made headlines in the last few weeks.

Arbery was shot dead by police in Brunswick back in February while he was jogging through the Satilla Shores neighborhood.

Cellphone footage showing the moment he was shot has prompted national outrage since it surfaced online...

The twenty-eight-second video shows Arbery jogging around a neighborhood on a sunny afternoon in late February. The footage ends with 2 loud gunshots.

After the video circulated on social media...

A large crowd of protesters marched through the area where Arbery was killed and people have been demanding justice. The pressure has been mounting on the police force to take action against the officers responsible for Arbery's death, and even though the case is currently being investigated, attitudes clearly aren't changing.

Yet another tragic incident occurred in our country this week involving a black man and 2 white police officers.

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It happened in Minneapolis on Monday, and passersby filmed 2 police officers "arresting" George Floyd for an assumed forgery incident.

Police found George matching a suspect's description in his car.

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Even though he didn't resist arrest, one of the officers got him on the ground and pinned him there by pressing their knee into his neck.

This position was clearly very painful for him...

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"Please, please, I can't breathe," George can be heard begging in harrowing footage as the officers remain standing.

George's nose begins to bleed...

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"My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts," he moans as passers-by begin to gather and repeatedly tell the officer to stop leaning on him.

Multiple witnesses are arguing with the officers when he starts to lose consciousness...

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"He's not f****** moving!" one witness shouts as another says, "Get the f*** off him, he isn't moving!" One of the officers responds with, "This is why you don't do drugs, kids."

After around 4 minutes of the officer kneeling on him, George is completely unresponsive.

via: Twitter

An ambulance arrives, the paramedics check his pulse and move his body onto a stretcher - he was later pronounced dead in the hospital.

George was only forty-six-years-old...

And he did not deserve to die.

The police officers involved have shown absolutely no emotion, regret, or urgency...

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And a huge amount of backlash has hit the headlines.

The officers involved have been put on paid administrative leave, per department protocol...

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And in total, 4 police officers have been fired following George's death. But many feel that more should be done.

The haunting footage of George's death began circulating online...

And it has left millions of people both heartbroken and disgusted.

People all around the world have been left furious over George's unjustified death.

But many are feeling completely hopeless due to the fact that this blatant racism is happening more and more in our country.

When will this violence stop?

And when will police officers who have caused his death be properly convicted for their crimes?

So many famous faces and activists have shared their opinions on the tragic murder...

And one of those people is, of course, Martin Luther King's daughter, Bernice.

Bernice is the youngest child of the civil rights leader.

She was only 5-years-old when her father was assassinated, and it was because of this tragic event that she decided to work towards becoming a minister.

Bernice is now the CEO of the King Center, which was originally founded by her mother.

She has worked tirelessly throughout her entire adult life campaigning for "black lives matter" and it's safe to say that she is an incredible advocate for the cause.

Bernice has touched on George's death...

She wrote this on Twitter: "If you’re unbothered or mildly bothered by the 1st knee, but outraged by the 2nd, then, in my father’s words, you’re 'more devoted to order than to justice.' And more passionate about an anthem that supposedly symbolizes freedom than you are about a Black man’s freedom to live," along with these 2 pictures.

Colin Kaepernick lost his job because he knelt as a protest during the national anthem instead of standing before a game...

This protest was against the racism that is so evident in our country... so if Colin had to lose his job, why shouldn't the police officers who murder so many innocent black people every year?

The reason for the kneeling on the right is the same kneeling on the left...

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It's not just a matter of police simply killing black people - it's the dehumanization and devaluing of black lives in our justice system overall.

Bernice received hundreds of thousands of responses to her tweet...

And everyone is pointing out the same thing - this police officer is a killer with a badge.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey addressed the incident in a press conference on Tuesday morning, referring to events in the video as "wrong at every level."

"Being black in America should not be a death sentence. For 5 minutes we watched as a white officer pressed his knee to the neck of a black man. For 5 minutes," he said.

"When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic human sense. What happened on Chicago and 38th, this last night, is simply awful."

Frey held another press conference yesterday...

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And this time, he called for outright arrest of Derek Chauvin - the officer who is responsible for the murder of George Floyd.

The Mayor pointed out that if any normal person had committed this horrific act, they would be in jail right now.

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"Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?" Frey asked during the press conference. "If you had done it or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now, and I cannot come up with a good answer to that question."

Frey described the decision to fire the officers as "the right call," but he urged the Hennepin County attorney to take further action.

"I'm calling on the Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to act on the evidence before him," he said. "I'm calling on him to charge the arresting officer in this case. We cannot turn a blind eye. It is on us as leaders to see this as it is and call it what it is."

In a statement released Wednesday, the county attorney's office said it was aware of the mayor's comments and was reviewing the evidence in the case.

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"We are working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner to expeditiously gather and review all of the evidence in the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd," the statement said according to BuzzFeed News. "The videotaped death of Mr. Floyd, which has outraged us and people across the country, deserves the best we can give and that is what this office will do."

Justice needs to be served.

Derek Chauvin needs to face up to his actions regardless of his position in the police force. He committed murder and there's no way that anybody can dodge that fact.

Rest in Peace, George.

Our deepest condolences go out to his family during this unimaginable time. Make sure to stay posted for further updates.