In Memory of George Floyd
I want to breathe
But I cant breathe
I could not see his face
His knee was on my neck
Life was going fast away from my soul
I want to breathe
But I can't breathe
46yrs ago, I learnt my first word
Mama! mama! mama!
25th May 2020,I spoke my last word
Mama! mama! mama!
And I still pleaded because
I want to breathe
But I cant breathe
My color was black
His color was white
My crime was black
His right was white
I still want to breathe
But I cant breathe
Minneapolis is burning
Real Americans are angry
The world is shocked in disbelief
Because I wanted to breathe
But i cant breathe
They were four of them
Four messengers of death
I saw the face of my wife
I felt the smiles of my kids
I remembered my friends
For their sake
I just needed to breathe
But I cant breathe
I asked for water
The pain was getting more
My neck hurts
My stomach hurts
My eyes were closed in agony
My offence again?
My color was black
His color was white
I have paid the price
Price of being black
Cry no more Minneapolis
I was one of the added numbers
My blood on that pavement
Will always remember that
I wanted to breathe
But I had no right to breathe
My offence again?
My color was black
My name George Floyd
My crime was black
His color was white
His name Derek Chauvin
His right was white
He has the right to breathe
I want to breathe
I can't breathe!
But someday this battle shall
Be over.
I go in peace but remember
25th May 2020
Mama!mama!mama!
My last word!
-Collins Okafor
#ICantBreathe
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
George FLOYD - 25th may 2020
These are the last words of George Floyd, a 46-year-old man who died as a US police officer pinned him down, kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes:
"It's my face man
I didn't do nothing serious man
please
please
please I can't breathe
please man
please somebody
please man
I can't breathe
I can't breathe
please
(inaudible)
man can't breathe, my face
just get up
I can't breathe
please, a knee on my neck
I can't breathe
shit
I will
I can't move
mama
mama
I can't
my knee
my neck
I'm through
I'm through
I'm claustrophobic
my stomach hurt
my neck hurts
everything hurts
some water or something
please
please
I can't breathe officer
don't kill me
they're gonna kill me, man
come on man
I cannot breathe
I cannot breathe
they're gonna kill me
they're gonna kill me
I can't breathe
I can't breathe
please sir
please
please
please I can't breathe"
Then, his eyes shut and the pleas stop. George Floyd was pronounced dead shortly after.
We have a choice. This can just be one more tragic death at the hands of US police -- or the moment things start to change.
We are a movement of more than 60 million people -- when we all speak up, it is deafening. So let's raise our voices to join everyone calling for an end to these racist killings, and push those in power to do the same.
Click to sign this open letter, and when it's massive, Avaaz will publish it in major US newspapers and websites around the world. Let it be an anthem to end the killing and honour all those we've already lost.
George Floyd
Sign the public open letter against racism and police brutality
As people of the world, we grieve the senseless loss of another life at the hands of US police.
We stand in community with everyone who is hurting.
These brutal killings must end. Each is a wound to the heart of our humanity and a shameful, indelible mark on that great flag of the United States of America.
Racism thrives in the company of silence -- so we will not stay quiet. Racism is a problem that belongs to us all. It is our fight.
But we cannot allow that fight to become hatred, for then we are no wiser than those whose hearts we seek to change. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
It is in this spirit that we call on all those in power to act NOW, and hold President Trump and US state and local governments accountable to:
We pledge to do our part, meeting the fear, anger, and ignorance of racism with all the hope, love, and strength of our humanity.
- Ensure all officers involved in the killing of George Floyd face legal due process,
- Expel and prosecute officers for even one instance of excessive force or the failure to intervene when excessive force is used,
- Ensure every police killing is independently and transparently investigated.
Rest in Power, George Floyd.
It will not be in vain.
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From arrest to asphyxiation: The last 30 minutes of George Floyd’s life
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI are both independently investigating George Floyd's death. Photo: AP
Cait Kelly and Ema OsavkovIt’s Monday evening in Minneapolis and police are responding to a report of a fake $20 bill.
In under 30 minutes, an African-American man would be dead, and the brutality of the arrest would spark huge riots across the country, tearing apart the US.
At protests around the world, people would chant his name: George Floyd.
The key events that led to the death of Mr Floyd, 46, are being pieced together – from witness accounts, police transcripts and CCTV footage.
Here is what we know so far: It started with a report of an allegedly fake $20 bill.
7.57pm:
Mr Floyd, a bouncer who had recently lost his job because of COVID-19 restrictions, had just purchased a packet of cigarettes from Cup Foods, with what staff would later claim was a counterfeit $US20 ($29.43) note.
Realising Mr Floyd was still sitting in the driver’s seat of a blue van outside the store, the staff went to confront him. They demanded he gives the cigarettes back but walked away empty-handed.
8.01pm:
A staff member calls 911, telling the operator Mr Floyd was intoxicated.
“He is awfully drunk and he’s not in control of himself,” the employee said.
8.08pm:
Two police officers, Thomas Lane and JA Kueng arrive at the scene and approach the van.
CCTV footage from a nearby shop shows officer Lane pulling his gun on Floyd and ordering him to put his hands on the wheel before putting it back in the holster.
Lane pulls Mr Floyd out of the vehicle and handcuffs him.
8.13pm:
The officers pick up Mr Floyd from where he has been seated on the ground and walk him back to their parked car.
8.14pm:
Mr Floyd “stiffened up, fell to the ground, and told the officers he was claustrophobic”, according to one account of the incident.
Police officers Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao arrive.
8.18pm:
Following a struggle in the car that can’t be clearly seen in the CCTV footage, Chauvin pulls out Mr Floyd and on to the street.
It is then witnesses start filming the arrest, with their phone footage showing Mr Floyd on the ground, with three of the officers applying pressure to his neck, torso and legs.
8.20pm:
This is the first time we hear Floyd speak.
“I can’t breathe,” he told the officers.
“Please, please, please.
“I can’t breathe. The knee in my neck, I can’t breathe.
“Mama.”
One officer is heard telling Mr Floyd to get up and into the car, but Chauvin continues to apply pressure to his neck.
Mr Floyd can be heard telling officers he can’t breathe at least 16 times in less than five minutes.
8.22pm:
Officers call for an ambulance, telling the operator it’s because Mr Floyd’s lip is bleeding. This is upgraded to an emergency a minute later.
Chauvin is still applying pressure to his neck.
8.25pm:
Mr Floyd loses consciousness and becomes unresponsive. Chauvin does not remove his knee.
8.27pm:
The ambulance arrives and a minute later, after being asked by the paramedic to lift his knee, Chauvin finally stops applying pressure to Mr Floyd ‘s neck.
He had stayed on Mr Floyd for eight minutes and 46 seconds.
Five minutes after his body was driven away from the scene, Mr Floyd went into cardiac arrest.
9.25pm:
Mr Floyd is pronounced dead.
