George Floyd

The death of George Floyd, the Minneapolis man who died as a result of the restraining measures used by police during his arrest, has mobilized a lot of people about the injustices that some black people will experience in their encounters with law enforcement. Floyd has been portrayed primarily as a victim, ignoring the circumstances leading up to his arrest, and provided a funeral send-off that is often only seen for those that have been prominent members of society.

 

George Floyd was no saint and this was not his first encounter with the justice system. The main arresting police officer, Derek Chauvin, also had other past issues and probably should have been fired a long time ago.  This time Floyd was arrested for trying to pass a counterfeit $20. Rather than cooperate with the police officers, Floyd resisted. At 6’6”, Floyd was a big man. As a bouncer in a night club, he may have been in better physical condition than the police officers. Even with handcuffs on, it took three officers to restrain him on the ground. Without doubt, Floyd did not have to die and the police officer should have reacted by taking his knee off Floyd's neck when Floyd said he couldn’t breathe. 

 

The reaction of most people has been focused on the outcome of events, overlooking the circumstances leading up to what should have been a non-confrontational arrest. Floyd was not pinned to the ground just because he was black. He was pinned to the ground because he was being combative. The police officer should not have ignored Floyd’s pleas for air and is now facing a 2^nd degree murder charge. 

 

Although the issue of racial discrimination seems to be the driving force behind the recent demonstrations, there’s also another matter to consider. What did both Floyd and the police do, or failed to do, that could have altered the outcome of this unnecessary death? While we can blame the police for how they handled the matter, we may never know whether or not it was racially motivated or just plain police brutality. Would there have been such an uprising if the police officer had been black? What we do know is that this started with Floyd being arrested for passing a counterfeit $20 and that he was reacting in a combative manner. Considering the limited information we know about officer Chauvin’s past and given the same circumstances, if Floyd was a white man isn’t it possible the police would have handled the situation in the same manner?