The Death of Floyd: A Tradition of Violence

Photo by Sunny Grant

It's been nearly six years since the murder of Eric Garner. Garner’s death was ruled a homicide, yet the officer who killed him was never even indicted, sparking national protest. Garner spent his last moments face-down in a fatal chokehold, gasping "I can't breathe" while police restrained him. Now, just weeks after a video was released of the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, an unarmed 25 year-old jogger, another high profile killing has ignited the nation.

George Floyd’s final moments were filmed. In Minneapolis Minnesota, Floyd can be seen on video gasping and pleading “I can’t breathe” face-down in the street, unarmed and handcuffed, neck under the knee of an arresting officer. For nearly nine minutes, several of which took place after Floyd lay unresponsive, the offending officers relentlessly subdued him, one by continuing to press his knee into Floyd’s neck. This lethal positioning is not part of any officer training program.

With the rise of video surveillance, American society is meant to feel an increased sense of security. For example, requiring body cameras be worn on police officers is a policy intended to keep us all safer- cops are protected because a suspect’s actions are recorded, and suspects are (intended to be) protected because police use of excessive force is recorded. Unfortunately, Floyd did not receive protection under law. Released footage of Floyd’s broad daylight public arrest and subsequent death leaves little to the imagination of what kind of suffering he may have experienced during his final moments. He was highly visible, handcuffed on the ground, in public with many onlookers watching or recording, and he was still killed. 

The story of Floyd’s murder, like so many others, is an all too familiar scene in America. For every video of an officer shooting, choking, or causing a grievous injury resulting in the death of an unarmed (and sometimes handcuffed) black victim, there are countless others whose names are not shared. The death of Floyd is not an aberration. 

Minnesota government has condemned the actions of the directing officer involved in Floyd’s murder, Derek Chauvin. Chauvin has been first charged with third degree murder, while many clamor for additional charges and conviction. Local Minneapolis institutions including the University of Minnesota have cut ties with the Minneapolis Police Department, citing student safety as a priority. If Minneapolis cannot depend on its local police force to uphold public safety or protection to all students, it begs the question: To whom can they turn? What happens when security is not extended to certain communities? Across America, many have become distrustful of police as a whole and ponder these very questions.

One culprit in breeding such distrust is  the “got-your-back” police culture. It enabled an officer who has at least 17 formal complaints filed against him to continue terrorizing the community. Additionally, at least three other officers were present during Floyd’s killing, any of whom could have intervened and prevented it; but police culture values silence and solidarity even in the face of injustice, allowing them to remain confident in their inaction.

All is not lost. Public objection over the death of black citizens at the hands of police has inspired protests worldwide. Cities across the nation have mobilized, seeking transformative social justice initiatives. Millions of Americans have contributed a voice and other resources to the movement determined to expose and overturn a system that allows what are effectively state-sanctioned public executions.

In local Raleigh-Durham, demonstrators gathered, demanding justice for the needless death of Floyd and countless other black Americans lost to police violence. Chants of “we can’t breathe,” a slogan derived from the final words of both Eric Garner and George Floyd, reverberated through town. A concerned multigenerational and multiethnic coalition of demonstrators marched together in protest, insistent upon justice in the form of convictions and reformation based on social equity. 

Millions across America and the world have taken to the streets demanding an end to our tradition of violence.