Former President Barack Obama spoke out today on the death of George Floyd in a statement posted via his Twitter account. Obama’s statement comes in the wake of outrage and protests across the country after the first video surfaced showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck. The 46-year-old, who was unarmed and handcuffed, died after the arrest.
In the statement, the former president called for togetherness in creating a ‘new normal’ ending bigotry and unequal treatment.
“It will fall mainly on the officials of Minnesota to ensure that the circumstances surrounding George Floyd’s death are investigated thoroughly and that justice is ultimately done,” the president said at the end of his note. “But it falls on all of us, regardless of our race or station—including the majority of men and women in law enforcement who take pride in doing their tough job the right way, every day—to work together to create a ‘new normal’ in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts.”
My statement on the death of George Floyd: pic.twitter.com/Hg1k9JHT6R
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 29, 2020
“It’s natural to wish for life ‘to just get back to normal’ as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us,” Obama wrote, referencing the current crisis with the novel coronavirus COVID-19. “But we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly ‘normal’— whether it’s while dealing with the health care system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park.”
Four officers were involved in the incident and all have since been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. Fired officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for several minutes, as Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe”, has been charged with murder and manslaughter.
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