The murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer has shocked the country, as it mirrors the brutal murder of Eric Garner in 2014, who also pleaded for help while on the ground before he was killed by police officers. Now, the lawyer for the family is demanding justice, telling TMZ that it is “open season on black people.”
On Tuesday, attorney Ben Crump joined TMZ Live to express his outrage following Monday night’s murder of George Floyd, who was killed when Minneapolis responded to a forgery call. While Floyd was subdued by police officers on the ground, one of the officers kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, ignoring the man’s pleas of not being able to breathe. The incident was captured on film by bystanders who pleaded with officers to help Floyd, who was clearly struggling in the final moments of his life.
“It’s like it’s open season on black people in America, whether it’s Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick Georgia or whether it is Breonna Taylor, who was executed in her own apartment in Louisville, Kentucky,” Crump said.
The Mayor of Minneapolis also expressed his outrage following the killing, saying, “When you hear someone calling for help, you’re supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic, human sense.”
The Minneapolis Police Department released a statement justifying officers’ actions, saying that no weapons were used during the arrest. However, the statement doesn’t address the officer’s actions of holding his knee down on Floyd’s neck, ultimately killing him.
On Tuesday, following an enormous amount of outcry across the nation, Minneapolis PD Chief Medaria Arradondo announced that all four of the unidentified officers involved in the killing had been fired.
