Recent police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis Minnesota, was a catalyst in outrage across the nation. This killing caused protest including some civil unrest and looting in all 50 states and other countries as a cry for equality and justice for African Americans against police brutality. According to mappingpoliceviolence.org, in the state of Florida over the past seven years, police killings of African Americans total over 40% of all police shootings in the state. Police are 4 times more likely to use excessive force in apprehending African Americans than Caucasian Americans reported CNN. (see more videos below)
The death was the most recent of a black citizen unjustly by the hands of police officers. This tragedy caps off string of black lives lost dating back to 60s civil rights. The death of teenage Trayvon Martin February 26, 2012 in Sanford, Florida, sparked the foundation of #BlackLivesMatter. It was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Foundation, Inc is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities.
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd who was apprehended for an alleged counterfeit $20 bill died from strangulation. Multiple officers held him face down on the concrete with one placing his knees on the back of his neck which lead to his dying plea of I cant breath after nearly 9 minutes of suffocation. Floyd died on the spot as onlookers screamed for human rights.
There are 2 other 2020 deaths of African Americans Breonna Taylor and Ahmad Avery that are on the most recent list of civil atrocities highlighted in the current protest. Breonna dying after police utilized a no knock warrant and stormed into her apartment and wrongfully shot her multiple times while she was in bed. Ahmad Aubrey was jogging and accused by local residents of small town Brunswick Georgia of trespassing on a incomplete home. These Caucasian vigilantes took the law in their own hands killing Avery by gun shot while attempting a citizen’s arrest.
The national pandemic of COVID-19 has given the world a moment to take notice to racism and police brutality highlighted by Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players kneeling during national anthem. Today, businesses, politicians and celebrities speak out and show up with a new attitude supporting the concept by some that white silence is violence, a phrase and concept read on signs carried by Blacklivesmatter supporters. The movement to form a more perfect union continues.
