Page 11 - Florida Sentinel 5-29-20

National
Four Cops Have Been Fired After A Black Man Died Begging A White Officer To Stop Crushing His Neck
Four Minneapolis police offi- cers have been fired, according to the city's mayor, after a disturbing video showed a black man dying in police custody on Monday night as he repeatedly said "I can't breathe" while a white police offi- cer pushed a knee into his neck.
The man, who was not officially identified by police, was named as George Floyd by Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, as well as attorney Benjamin Crump, who said he was representing the family.
Mayor Frey said on Tuesday afternoon that four officers in- volved in Floyd's death had been fired.
"This is the right call," he tweeted.
In a video originally posted to Facebook by an onlooker, Floyd can be seen talking to offi- cers and onlookers, begging for help, as two officers press him into the ground, before he be- comes unresponsive.
“Please, please, I can’t breathe. Please, man, please,” Floyd says repeatedly, as a police officer holds a knee against his
neck for eight minutes.
"I can't breathe," says Floyd.
A person can be heard talking to Floyd, telling him to get up and get in the car, although it is unclear if it is an officer speaking.
"I can't move," says Floyd. "Everything hurts. Give me some water or something, please. I can't breathe, officer."
"They're going to kill me," Floyd says. "They're going to kill me, man."
Onlookers can be heard calling on police to stop, stating the man's nose was bleeding, he was not resisting arrest, and that the officer was stopping his breath- ing.
"He's fine," responds one offi- cer, saying they'd tried to put Floyd into a car for 10 minutes.
When Floyd becomes unre- sponsive, onlookers start de- manding officers give the man medical attention.
"He's not responsive right now," says one onlooker, who goes for- ward to help as a police officer pulls out a can of mace.
"Does he have a pulse?" asks another onlooker. "Check his
George Floyd (right), known as Big Floyd to his friends being held down by the officer’s knee on his throat.
for questioning about a non-vio- lence charge," he said in a state- ment. "How many 'while black' deaths will it take until the racial profiling and undervaluing of black lives by police finally ends?" The FBI is now investigating the incident.
In an emotional press confer- ence on Tuesday morning, Min- neapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Floyd "should not have died" and that the officer "failed in the most basic human sense."
"What we saw was horrible, completely and utterly messed up," said Frey.
"Being black in America should not be a death sentence," Frey said. "For five minutes, we watched as a white officer pressed his knee into the neck of a black man. For five minutes. When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic human sense."
Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar also condemned what she described as "another horrifying and gutwrenching in- stance of an African American man dying."
White Woman Who Called
pulse!"
The officers repeatedly tell the
onlookers to get back and do not immediately provide medical at- tention for the unresponsive man in their custody.
Paramedics then arrive, check Floyd's pulse, and roll him onto a gurney and into an ambu- lance.
Police told local station KSTP Floyd was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he
was pronounced dead.
Crump, who is representing
Floyd's family, released a state- ment Tuesday demanding an- swers from the police department.
"We all watched the horrific death of George Floyd on video as witnesses begged the police of- ficer to take him into the police car and get off his neck. This abu- sive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police
Police On Black Bird Watcher
In Central Park Has Been Fired
A black man says he asked a white woman in Central Park to put her dog on a leash.
Then video shows her calling police and telling emergency operators that the man was threatening her and her dog. The woman, who has been identified as Amy Cooper, has apologized. But by Tues- day afternoon she was fired from her job at an investment management firm, the em- ployer said.
The man who shot the video of the encounter, Christian Cooper, told NPR Tuesday evening, what the woman did was "pretty crappy without a doubt." But, wonders if the re- sponse to her actions was "re- ally proportionate."
"I'm not sure that her one minute of poor decision-mak- ing, bad judgment and, with- out question, racist response necessarily has to define her completely," Christian Cooper said.
Her now former employer, Franklin Templeton, said in a statement posted to Twitter
Video of Amy Cooper calling the police Monday on a man has gone viral on social media.
she had been fired, less than a day after announcing she was placed on administrative leave.
"Following our internal re- view of the incident in Central Park yesterday, we have made the decision to terminate the employee involved, effective immediately. We do not toler- ate racism of any kind at Franklin Templeton," the com- pany said.
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