Although not knowing all the details, we know enough to be deeply disturbed by the events of 25 May. Those who viewed those eight minutes and 46 seconds won’t forget them.
It is wrong that a person died at the hands of a police officer, pleading: ‘Please, the knee in my neck, I can’t breathe … Mama! … My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts … Don’t kill me.’
Despite recordings showing the police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck till he was motionless, and not even moving after Floyd became deathly still, the following morning the Minneapolis Police Department issued a statement titled: ‘Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction’. There was no mention of (now former) Officer Chauvin’s deadly actions, attributing Floyd’s death to a pre-existing medical condition.
