Statement by Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, President, Detroit Branch NAACP
In the words of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey “Being black in America should not be a death sentence.” We agree wholeheartedly. Tragically, it is the reality of too many black men across this nation. There are far too many cases of encounters of black men and white police officers that leave us dead. These deaths occur on sidewalks, street corners, grocery stores, sitting in a car, sitting on a couch in your own home, playing in the park, or walking with your child. We die running, walking, talking, not talking, sitting, standing, handcuffed, no cuffs, from the back, or from the front. We die young. We die old. We die in between. The terror of Minneapolis reminds us all of what cold-blooded murder looks like. Cold-blooded meaning “without emotion, or pity, deliberately cruel, or callous.” Officer Derek Chauvin pins his knee on the neck of George Floyd, with indifference expressed on his face, as Floyd begs for his life “please, please, please, I can’t breathe, please man.” It is clear for any who choose to see that this was a murder. It was without emotion or pity, deliberately cruel and callous. Chauvin pinned him down on the ground like he was a trophy, won on an animal hunt somewhere in the wild. He and the other three officers all violated the sworn oath of the Minneapolis Police Department. The department credo is “To protect with courage. To serve with compassion.”
In the Minneapolis Police Department Code of Conduct, Section 5-300 on the Use of Force,
- Purpose – A sanctity of life and the protection of the public shall be the cornerstone of the MPD use of force
- Active Aggression – Behavior initiated by a subject that may or may not be in response to police efforts to bring the person into custody or control. Subject engages in active aggression when presenting behaviors constituting an assault or circumstances reasonably indicating an assault or injury to any person is likely to occur at any moment
George Floyd was on the ground, face down, hands cuffed behind his back, with a knee pinned to his neck. He lay in this position, unable to move, for 7-8 minutes. He was not getting ready neither did he have the capacity to assault anyone. The only courage on display was offered by the bystanders who yelled to police officers to stop what they were doing. They called out to the officers to let him up off the ground while his nose was bleeding. They took pictures of this murder while it was in progress.
There was no compassion by Officer Chauvin, who pinned him down, or any concern for his safety by Officer Tou Thao, who turned his back on evil and kept away forces trying to do good. The indifference of the other officers make it even more tragic and heart wrenching. The officers who watched and did nothing are totally complicit. They should be called to justice and also charged in this murder. It is reminiscent of those who stood by and watched black men hanging from trees, turning their backs on evil, and doing nothing for the good. The voice of Billie Holiday calls out from the grave Strange Fruit, “pastoral scene of the gallant south, the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth.” Whether north or south, it is time for all good, decent, and law-abiding police officers everywhere to say no, this can’t go. This must not be our example. We are better than this.
There is a higher code of conduct. There is a greater community of comradery that must be prioritized here. It is a community of our humanity. It is a community of our dignity. It is a community that must maintain a society that respects the lives of all people. Black men are not the footstools for rogue police officers to use to prop up their own egos or to get a surge of power by holding us down. While we know all lives matter, white men are not the deadly victims of rogue police officers, at any level of comparison to the degree that we find black men. They get to go home after traffic stops. Too many of us go to the grave after we have been stopped. It is time for more white folks to speak up and out against these injustices. It is a form of socio-political schizophrenia to get pissed off, fire, and white list Colin Kaepernick for pinning his knee on the ground for justice. You must call out the racist, terrorizing, and rogue police who used their knee to pin down the neck of helpless victims, which is the height of injustice. Silence is not golden. It is simply used to embolden those who ignore justice and disrespect our lives. The Mayor of Minneapolis and the police chief did the appropriate thing. These men should have been fired. However, to fire them without charging, arresting, providing a trial, and affording them justice for this crime would be an even greater injustice. If we are to “establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” like the preamble to the constitution dictates, they must be held fully accountable for this crime against humanity.
