George Floyd’s Family Wants Cops Involved In His Death Charged With Murder
"To the police. I want them to get everything right. Start doing your job the right way." Philonise Floyd
George Floyd, Bridgett Floyd appearing on Good Morning America [Good Morning America]
UPDATE 5/29/20
Minneapolis Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington announced Friday afternoon that Derek Chauvin, one of the four officers fired this week was arrested by Minnesota state investigators, according to the Associated Press.
The Star Tribune also reports that Derek Chauvin, 44, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
ORIGINAL POST 5/28/20
The family of George Floyd, the man who died in Minnesota after a police officer used a knee to hold him down, is calling for justice.
“They could have tased him; they could have maced him. Instead, they put their knee in his neck and just sat on him and then carried on,” Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, said in a May 26 interview with CNN. He added: "They treated him worse than they treat animals.”
On May 25, Minneapolis police responded to a call and made contact with Floyd, who was sitting in a car and matched the description of a person who allegedly had used a suspected counterfeit bill.
Surveillance footage obtained from a restaurant near the scene shows an officer taking a handcuffed Floyd from the vehicle and sitting him on the sidewalk. The officer and his colleague then stand Floyd up and escort him to another location.
An eyewitness used a cell phone to document what happened next. Video shows Floyd, 46, face down on the ground in cuffs with officer Derek Chauvin kneeling with his knee pressed against the man’s neck, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Among other statements, Floyd can be heard in the footage pleading he couldn’t breathe and “everything hurts” before going limp and losing consciousness after several minutes have passed.
Floyd was rushed to the Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a news conference that there was “no reason to apply that kind of pressure with a knee to someone's neck,” CNN reported.
"The technique that was used is not permitted; is not a technique that our officers get trained in on, and our chief has been very clear on that piece,” he noted.
“They need to be charged with murder because what they did was murder," Tera Brown, Floyd’s cousin, told CNN. “[The police] were supposed to be there to serve and to protect and I didn't see a single one of them lift a finger to do anything to help while he was begging for his life. Not one of them tried to do anything to help him.”
The four officers involved have been fired, and the FBI has announced they’ve launched a “robust criminal investigation” into the matter.
Bridgett Floyd told Good Morning America she feels that the policemen losing their jobs is "definitely not enough justice” and they “need to be put in jail.”
“They murdered my brother,” she said.
According to the Star Tribune, a Hennepin County medical examiner report stated the official cause and manner of Floyd’s death is “pending further testing and investigation.”
In an emotional follow-up interview on May 28 Philonise Floyd told CNN's Alisyn Camerota "To the police. I want them to get everything right. Start doing your job the right way." He added "I just want justice."
Authorities have not currently filed charges against any of the officers.
