Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey was emotional as he reacted to the death of George Floyd, an African American man which was caught on video when a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for 5 minutes.
Jacob Frey said during a press conference: “Being Black in America should not be a death sentence. For five minutes, we watched as a White officer pressed his knee into the neck of a Black man. For five minutes.”
At this point in his speech, Frey became visibly emotional. He stopped, took a breath, and continued.
When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help,” he continued, adding, “so officer failed in the most basic human sense.”
Frey also reacted after the 4 officers involved were fired.
Frey tweeted: “Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated. This is the right call.”
The tragic incident happened just after 8 p.m. Monday, May 25, in the area of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South. Police said a call to 911 was placed for a man who attempted to forge a check.
The 911 caller also reportedly mentioned the suspect was still in a nearby parking lot and seemed to be under the influence.
When police responded, they saw George Floyd and attempted to arrest him.
“He was ordered to step from the car … after he got out he physically resisted officers … officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and the officers noticed the male was going into medical distress,” Minneapolis police spokesman John Elder said.
At that point, officers said an ambulance was called.
The man, who police say is in his 40s, was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center where he later died.
However, a video making the rounds online shows that officers forcefully pinned George Floyd to the ground while one officer knelt on his neck for about five minutes as George begged for his life, saying: “I can’t breathe. My stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everywhere hurts.”
Bystanders called for the officer to stand from George’s neck but he wouldn’t. One witness is heard in the video telling the officers that George was already bleeding through the nose, yet the officer continued to apply pressure on his neck with his knee.
George’s death has sparked protests all over America.
