George Floyd, An Objective View

 

        It was truly shocking to witness on video what took place in Minneapolis this week.  A black man named George Lloyd was arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill to pay for some items at a local store.  It's not clear whether he knew the bill was counterfeit or not, but the clerk at the store who called the police stated he refused to return the items he'd purchased, and that he appeared heavily drunk.

       On security camera he only slightly appeared to resist arrest.  To me he looked angry and intoxicated while protesting as the officers escorted him to their vehicle.  When they got there, Lloyd appeared to fall down on his own, startling the officers.  Two more came to help in addition to the two who were already trying to arrest him.

      Next came the disturbing cell phone footage of these officers holding him down.  It's not clear what transpired in the minutes between this footage and the previous one.  But Lloyd was on the other side of the car this time, with one officer holding him down with his foot on his neck!  Lloyd, gasping for breath, said many times he couldn't breathe, begging for his life.  He begged the officer to let him up so he could get in the car, but the officer continued to put pressure on his neck while the others guarded the area against onlookers, many who were growing agitated by the officer not letting up.  It took about nine minutes for an ambulance to arrive (who called the ambulance- police or a spectator?).  It was only then that the officer finally released his foot from the man's neck.  Yet it was clearly too late; by then Lloyd had to be dragged onto a stretcher, where he was pronounced dead by medics shortly after.

        The event has sparked outrage across the country, nowhere more than in Minneapolis, where the precinct these cops worked at was on set on fire last night.  All four had been summarily fired, and this morning the officer who killed Lloyd was arrested on charges of murder.
       I'm not sure how much this has to do with race as it does with a familiar story that transcends it.  I've heard so many stories of innocent people being tortured and murdered unfairly.  Human cruelty is endless it seems.  RIP to George Lloyd, Sylvia Likens, et al; all the kind souls who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, tortured and killed for no other apparent reason than bigotry, jealousy, or any other vices.
       Now there are riots in all the major cities, during a pandemic of all things...  America going up in flames and phlegm.  One of the low points in U.S. history.