African-American populations continue to suffer violence from the American police. Racism, excessive and inhumane use of force… a look back at the story of a violent arrest in America that claimed a new victim.
“I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe…” were the last words spoken by George Floyd before he was killed by American police officers. The four Minneapolis police officers were fired on Tuesday following this tragedy that sparked anger in this city in the north of the United States. According to Floyd’s family, the police used “excessive and inhumane” force.
On Tuesday, passers-by gathered and laid flowers at the place of arrest, while others displayed posters imploring the police to “stop killing black people”. The scene, filmed Monday evening for ten minutes by a passerby on Facebook Live, shows George Floyd, aged around forty, pinned to the ground on his stomach by a police officer who immobilizes him with a knee on his neck.
The man complains for several minutes of not being able to breathe and of being in pain, while the officer, a white man, tells him to stay calm. A second police officer keeps the passersby at a distance, who begin to get angry while George Floyd no longer moves and seems unconscious. “He’s not breathing, he’s not moving, take his pulse,” repeats a witness while the police officers wait for an ambulance, which arrives after several minutes. He was taken to a hospital where he died shortly after.
This case is not the first of its kind in America. Indeed, it recalls that of Eric Garner, a black man who died after being asphyxiated during his arrest by white police officers in New York in 2014. The case notably contributed to the emergence of the “Black Lives Matter” movement and triggered a protest movement. Other deaths of black people at the hands of the police have caused riots in the country.
