EDITORIAL
The following video is graphic.
It’s not shown in the video, but obviously George Floyd resisted arrest. And he paid for it with his life, murdered by, at best, incompetent police officers who disgraced their city, their state, our nation, and humanity.
Floyd had heart disease, was high on fentanyl, a powerful opioid, and had recently taken methamphetamine. Clearly, he was no saint. Still, he did not deserve to die.
They pinned him on the ground, and for at least part of the time, three police officers kneeled on his back, his side, and his neck.
And George Floyd begged. He begged.
He said he could not breathe.
He begged them to get off his neck.
He cried mama. At least twice near the end.
The police had put in a call for non-emergency medical transport. They quickly upgraded that to emergency EMS level 3 dispatch. They were holding him, as he had apparently resisted arrest, previously refusing to get into the police car. Were drugs involved? Most likely. But nearly irrelevant.
BUT WHAT IS WORSE is that bystanders, including, yes, a white woman, repeatedly begged and even swore at the officers, begging the officer to check George’s pulse. Saying he couldn’t breathe. That he was unresponsive. Unconscious. And yet, the knee to his neck remained. The officers not only ignored the bystanders, the officer with his knee on George’s neck felt compelled to pull a canister of mace and appear to direct it towards the bystanders who did not appear to be any threat to the officers.
Was it arrogance?
It does not matter what George did to get himself in this situation. The police officers murdered George. Either through stupidity, or through arrogance, or God forbid, by design.
Perhaps they did not expect him to die. But, it was shocking to watch the officer with his knee on the unconscious man used his hands to direct or threaten pepper spray at a concerned citizen who begged him to remove his knee. The spray was not needed. There was an armed police officer already preventing the concerned citizens from reaching the officer, or providing any assistance. All they could do was beg and scream.
This is a disgrace. The officers killed a man through their actions and inactions. They disgraced a noble profession. They disgraced the residents of the city, the state, the U.S.A., the world, and all humanity.
Their lives as they know it ended that day, no matter what any future courtroom outcome may indicate. The officers died that day, gave up their souls. They just don’t know it yet. If there is a hell, their journey there has begun, with their actions that day.
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“I can not breathe.”
Officer doesn’t take his knee off George, even after he is unconscious.
“Bro, he’s [bleep] not moving.”
“CHECK HIS PULSE. CHECK HIS PULSE. THE MAN AIN’T MOVED BRO.”
