While Singaporeans grapple with circuit breakers and exorbitant disinfectants, the citizens of the United States are dealing with an issue of their own:
The seemingly maligned death of George Floyd.
Just days before, disturbing footage of a white police officer kneeling on an unarmed black man’s neck had begun circulating on the web.
The white police officer in question has since been identified as Derek Chauvin, while the other party has been recognised as George Floyd.
In the video clip, Floyd can be heard telling Chauvin: “Please, please, please, I can’t breathe. Please, man.”
“I’m about to die,” he says later in the footage. At this point, Chauvin tells him to relax.
“I can’t breathe,” Floyd says. “Please, the knee in my neck, I can’t breathe, sir.”
Throughout the entire ordeal, bystanders could be heard pleading with other police officers on the scene to intervene. No help, however, was rendered.
Floyd seemed to pass out minutes into the “neck-hold”, and was carried away in a state described as “completely limp”. He eventually died in a nearby hospital shortly after, in what police has described as a “medical incident”.
“Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress,” a police statement reads. “Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later.”
Although officials have claimed that it could take three weeks or more to ascertain the real cause of Floyd’s death, many believe that Chauvin’s harsh method had been the determinant in the equation.
“When I walked up, he was already on the ground,” Darnella Frazier, a bystander who recorded the incident, said in a Facebook video. “The cops, their knees—they were pinning him down by his neck and he was crying and shit, saying he couldn’t breathe. They weren’t trying to take him serious.”
“The police killed him, bro, right in front of everybody,” she said. She also added that “five, six minutes” after professing he couldn’t breathe, Floyd was “sitting there dead.”
You can view the footage down below. Take note, however, that it’s distressing in nature, and discretion is advised.
Derek Chauvin Has Since Been Charged with Murder
Derek Chauvin is one of four officers fired in the aftermath, as violent protests rage on in the United States.
And on Friday (29 May), the Minneapolis police officer was arrested and charged with murder.
He is believed to be represented by attorney Tom Kelly, who was the lawyer responsible for St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez. Back in 2007, Yanez had been acquitted in the shooting death of Philando Castle in St. Paul.
According to LA Times, Chauvin has a history of gun violence and had conduct complaints during the course of his 19-year career. Eighteen conduct complaints have been filed against the 44-year-old, two of which led to reprimands.
Police records and news accounts also reveal that Chauvin had been involved in other deaths.
In 2005, two people passed away when their car was being chased by a vehicle being hunted down by Chauvin and Officer Terry Nutter. A third person, who had been riding in the car, died after a few days.
In 2006, Chauvin was among six officers who pulled the trigger on Wayne Reyes, a stabbing suspect. They opened fire after Reyes reportedly directed a sawed-off shotgun at them. In the same year, a prison inmate filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Minneapolis Police Department and officers, including Chauvin.
The case was dismissed, however, after the plaintiff failed to fulfill the filing fee.
Chauvin had also shot a certain Ira Latrell Toles twice in the stomach before. According to reports, Chauvin had responded to a report of domestic abuse at a couple’s home, and forcibly entered a bathroom where Toles was hiding.
When Toles reportedly reached for his gun, Chauvin pulled the trigger.
Toles managed to survive the ordeal, and was subsequently accused of felony obstruction. But the 33-year-old has since stated that Chauvin’s version of events had not been accurate.
In an interview with the Daily Beast, Toles claimed that Chauvin had broken down the bathroom door and started beating him. The 33-year-old said that he only fought back in an attempt at self-defence.
Chauvin was temporarily suspended following the event, but eventually returned to duty.
“I knew he would do something again,” Toles told the Daily Beast.
Despite a history of questionable violence, Chauvin was formerly recognised for his positive feats in the field. In 2008, he received a police department medal of valor, and repeated the feat two years later.
So What Happened on That Fateful Day?
According to Minneapolis police, the department had received a report about a “forgery in progress” on Monday (25 May) night. Officers claimed to have identified Floyd as a suspect, and requested for him to exit his car. Apparently, Floyd adhered to their instructions, but began resisting.
That was when the knee-on-neck incident happened.
In a separate report, it’s alleged that Chauvin and Floyd were former colleagues at a nightclub not far from where the incident occurred. Chauvin had served as the club’s off-duty officer for almost 17 years, while Floyd had operated as a bouncer for the club for around a year.
According to the owner (who has since sold it) of the nightclub, however, it was highly unlikely that the men would have recognised each other, as “Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside”.
On Friday (29 May), Barack Obama, the nation’s first black president, expressed his “anguish” over 46-year-old Floyd’s death. “This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America,” Obama said in a statement.
Just so you know, the 44th POTUS hasn’t publicly spoken about anything much since he passed the baton to Donald Trump back in 2017.
The case has attracted the furore of many incensed African Americans, who took to the streets to protest against police violence against ‘black’ people. It’s reported that numerous buildings have been razed and looted across the Twin Cities, including a police station affiliated with the four officers.
Hundreds of troops had to be deployed to the streets of Minneapolis and St Paul to contain what would be a fourth night of violent demonstrations.
Trump has also threatened a violent countermeasure if the situation doesn’t improve.
“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump tweeted.
“Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”
He has, however, denied that it’s an incitement to violence.
Though one thing’s for sure: even when the Coronavirus is over, the United States of America will never quite be united…
Until they deal with this prevalent ‘racism’ issue, which has stretched far longer than it should’ve been allowed to.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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