Protestors Demand Justice in Minneapolis for George Floyd who Died After Arrest by Four Police Officers

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) -Hundreds took to the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota Tuesday, demanding justice for George Floyd who died Monday after being arrested by police officers and pinned to the ground by his neck. Four police officers have been fired in connection with the death and a state agent and FBI investigation is pending, Sky News reports.

Floyd was unarmed when placed under arrest on suspicion of using a forged check at a grocery store on Monday, the Guardian reports. Public outrage grew following the circulation of a bystander’s video of Floyd’s arrest, in which he is seen face down on the ground with an officer kneeling on his neck. Floyd is heard on the video gasping for breath and saying: “I can’t breathe! Don’t kill me!” In the video, witnesses can be heard shouting at officers about the knee on Floyd’s neck. One witness shouted: “Bro, he’s not even moving!” Another asks “you’re going to just sit there with your knee on his neck?” Floyd died a short while after his arrest at Hennepin County Medical Center.

CBS Minnesota reports that protestors tried to maintain social distancing and organizers called for the protest to remain peaceful. However, when the protest became a march to the precinct where it was thought the arresting officers were based, a smaller group of protestors began to vandalize the building and spray paint police cars.

Police officers in riot gear arrived on the scene and fired tear gas and flash grenades while protestors threw rocks and bottles at them. “It’s real ugly,” a protestor told CBS Minnesota. “The police have to understand that this is the climate they have created, this is the climate they created.”

Most protestors interviewed by the Guardian newspaper said they were there to demonstrate the need for police accountability. “It could have been my son. It could have been me. It shouldn’t be,” one said. Another protestor told CBS Minnesota: “We’re here to let them know this can’t be tolerated, there will be severe consequences if they continue to kill us this will not go on another day.”

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