George Floyd, Policing and the Paradigm Shift
January 12, 2023
"May 26th marked the first night of protests that were ablaze after George Floyd's death at the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department. The day before, four Minneapolis police officers arrested George Floyd for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to buy cigarettes. Before verifying if the accusation was true or not (it turned out not to be), the police officers pulled out their guns and forcefully removed Floyd from his car. Even though he did not resist arrest, he was put to the ground face down, where Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck. George Floyd repeatedly said that he could not breathe, but despite his pleading, Chauvin kept his knee on George Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until Floyd was dead. Chauvin and his counterparts in the arrest had been involved in multiple prior instances of police brutality, yet they were still allowed to roam the streets and commit more acts of police violence."