The words of 46-year-old George Floyd as he lay on the street in Minneapolis after he was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit bill are eerily reminiscent of the police killing of Eric Garner in New York.
Onlookers urged the police to stop, including one nurse who warned that Floyd was close to dying.
Unlike the Garner case that took five years before the policeman who killed him in a chokehold was removed from the New York Police Dept., Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo immediately fired Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and Alexander Kueng and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made the announcement Tuesday.
While Floyd’s family has retained lawyer Ben Crump, a prominent civil rights lawyer who has represented the families of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and Ahmaud Arbery, the people of Minneapolis took to the streets to protest, marching to the police station.
State and federal agencies are investigating Floyd’s death and Frey has asked the County attorney to considering filing charges against Chauvin.
