“I’m speaking to you from my heart. Look, I don’t know if I’m going to have a career after this, but fuck that. Today is about innocent people who were halfway through their process, we don’t know what George Floyd could have achieved, we don’t know what Sandra Bland could have achieved, but today we’re going to make sure that won’t be an alien thought to our young ones. Every black person in here remembered when another person reminded you that you were black. So none of you out there, all those protesters on the other side, protesting against what we want to do, protesting against what we want to try and achieve, burn you, this is so vital. I need you to understand how painful this shit is. I need you to understand how painful it is to be reminded every day that your race means nothing and that isn’t the case anymore, that was never the case anymore.” John Boyega at The Black Lives Matter protest in Hyde Park June 3rd 2020
for people who are unaware of why the riots in minneapolis started happening, here’s the facts:
it wasn’t george floyd’s protesters who started reacting violently; it was the cops.
the protest was peaceful until the cops showed up in riot gear, and started using water cannons, followed up by tear gas and rubber bullets. i got videos from friends who were there, of people screaming and running away from the cops shooting the water cannons, rubber bullets and throwing tear gas at them. they were even shooting at the protesters dragging people away to get medical attention.
speaking of medical attention, dispatch refused to provide any medical attention to the protesters. people literally had to drive their bleeding friends to the hospital because they refused to send ambulances.
cops are using non-lethal weapons in a lethal way. they shot rubber bullets into people’s heads and injured them. there’s dozens of photos of protesters with bleeding head wounds from the rubber bullets.
multiple people used police scanners and heard that there were undercover cops pretending to be violent protesters who were throwing rocks and whatnot at the police, with dozens of eyewitness accounts confirming that information.
the person who instigated all the chaos last night (it was a fire at an autozone) with the looting and burning buildings is highly suspected to be an undercover cop pretending to be a protester, because the video of him keeps getting taken down. protesters tried to stop him but couldn’t because he had a hammer and they were scared for their safety.
the cops jammed cell phone towers and cut live streams to interrupt broadcasts and to prevent people from seeing what was really going on and who actually started the violence.
the cops lied about protesters being armed and about throwing rocks and are literally trying to continue the violence happening and yet no one is holding them accountable for that.
and during all this, the cop that murdered george floyd still hasn’t been arrested. he has had more than ten complaints filed against him and was involved in three other civilian shootings in the past. and yet he’s still out free along with his three other buddies involved, probably sitting on his couch while all this chaos is happening.
so don’t get it twisted. the cops just want to change the narrative to make it look like they’re the wounded and righteous party, when they’re the ones who started reacting violently in the first place and are still acting violently. so don’t you ever forget who started this tragedy and murdered someone, and who are continuing to react to the situation with violence.
when are we gonna realize that these change dot org petitions are typically nothing more than performative activism that allows people who are unaffected (usually white people) to do the bare minimum and then pat ourselves on the back for being so involved and doing the right thing and standing up for people?
you know what’s meaningful and impactful especially during a time when it really isn’t smart or safe to gather to protest and riot? donating money directly to people/families and foundations that help people and sharing those resources instead of repeatedly sharing trauma porn and change dot org petitions that will most likely never make a difference.
You know what else you can do?
Call Mayor Jacob Frey (612) 673 2100
DA George Freeman (612) 348 5550
and demand that the officers who murdered George Floyd be arrested
You need a script? Here you go.
“Hi my name is _____, and I am calling to demand justice for George Floyd. I am demanding that the city of Minneapolis arrest Derek Chauvin badge # 1087, Tou Thao badge # 7162, Thomas Lane, and J Alexander Kueng. These officers murdered a man and should be prosecuted for their actions. This was a hate crime and an abuse of power.”
If you’re able to, please donate to the gofundme page directly set up by George Floyd’s next of kin. After suffering such a horrific loss, they need all the support they can get. All other gofundme pages that look similar are not directly affiliated with the Floyd family.
George Floyd was murdered by police. Just like Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Sandra Bland, and far too many others.
White supremacists storm state capitals armed with AR-15 assault rifles and are unharmed. Unarmed people protesting murder by police get tear-gassed and shot with rubber bullets.
Systemic racism is the disease of this country. It must be eradicated. From the white supremacists in the White House to the terrorist vigilantes who hunted down Ahmaud Arbery to the Central Park (Liberal, Buttigieg supporter) woman in New York, calling police on a man who merely asked her to leash her dog.
