George Floyd’s girlfriend has called for calm in Minneapolis, saying he would be “devastated” if he saw the city burning after the third night of protests in the city escalated into looting and violence.
What We Know:
- Courteney Ross, who has been with Floyd for the last three years told the Star Tribune: “I am heartbroken. Waking up this morning to see Minneapolis on fire would be something that would devastate Floyd.”
- Ross said she “understood the frustration” but that she wants people “to protest in a peaceful way”.
- The city’s national guard was called on Thursday as protests in the wake of Floyd’s death turned increasingly violent. Thousands of people took to the streets, while several shops, including a Target and CVS, were looted.
- The video of a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for around eight minutes has prompted thousands of people across the country to protest Floyd’s death and demand accountability for the officers.
- Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press conference early on Friday: “There is a lot of pain and anger right now in our city. What we have seen over the past several hours and the past couple of nights in terms of looting is unacceptable. Our communities cannot and will not tolerate it. These are community institutions that we need.”
- The protests extended well beyond Minnesota in recent days as people decried systemic racism in the U.S. in New York, California, and other states. Secret Service officials reportedly placed Trump’s abode on high alert in response to the Washington D.C. protestors before the lockdown concluded just before 8:30 pm.
- The papers said that an autopsy revealed nothing to support strangulation as the cause of death. Floyd’s family is seeking an independent autopsy.
- The family of Floyd and their attorney Ben Crump released a statement on Friday after Chauvin’s arrest.
“We expected a first-degree murder charge. We want a first-degree murder charge. And we want to see the other officers arrested. The pain that the black community feels over this murder and what it reflects about the treatment of black people in America is raw and is spilling out onto streets across America.”
A lawyer for Floyd’s family said that they thank the protesters “for joining them in standing for justice, but we also cannot sink to the level of our oppressors, and we cannot endanger each other as we respond to the necessary urge to raise our voices in unison and outrage.”
