The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has called the death of a black man George Floyd at the hands of a white policeman “a state-sanctioned murder”.
The pressure is mounting in the United States for prosecutors to bring charges against Minneapolis police over the death of Floyd.
Floyd died on Monday after Derek Chauvin, a white policeman, knelt on his neck for several minutes as Floyd moaned and yelled: “I can’t breathe.” A video of the incident shows Floyd pleading with police and eventually appearing motionless as the policeman’s knee remained on his neck.
Leslie Remond, president, Minneapolis NAACP, stated, “The cruel display of the state-sanctioned murder that took place in Minneapolis is yet another repugnant show of violence by the police. The actions of the officers involved are inexcusable and warrant swift consequences. Their actions represent a dangerous precedent set forth by the racist, xenophobic, and prejudicial sentiment in our society against Black people. We witnessed a violation of our human rights, and we must hold all involved criminally accountable for the death of Mr. Floyd.”
“The words, ‘I can’t breathe!’ echo louder and louder as we think back to 2014 when New York police officers killed Eric Garner in the same manner. Yet, here we are waking up to the untimely murder of George Floyd by police officers. The outrage we feel and the justice we demand will reverberate throughout Minneapolis and the country as a whole. We are done dying. This moment calls for us to unify, uplift the family, and pursue justice,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO, NAACP, stated.
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