now let's turn to the united states to
the city of minneapolis the city is
still reeling from the death of an
unarmed black man in police custody
these were some of the scenes earlier
this morning people were
still out on the streets overnight some
buildings close to the demonstrations
were set on fire
wednesday was the second night that
police and protesters clashed
tear gas was fired by police while
protesters threw rocks and also sprayed
graffiti
businesses were also looted the mayor of
minneapolis spoke a few hours ago about
the protests
over the last two days
and the emotion-ridden conflict over
last night
is the result of so much built up
anger and sadness anger
and sadness that has been ingrained in
our black
community not just because of
five minutes of horror but 400 years
if you're feeling that sadness and that
anger
it's not only understandable it's right
well let's just remind ourselves of what
sparked this
this is 46 year old george floyd he is
the man who died in police custody on
monday
and this is a video of the incident that
eventually resulted in
his death and before we play it i just
need to warn you that
it is distressing i cannot breathe
check his pulse check his pulse
you could clearly hear mr floyd saying
that i cannot breathe
now mr floyd was being arrested
following reports of using counterfeit
money
he died shortly after arriving at
hospital four police officers have been
fired the mayor of minneapolis has
called for charges to be pressed against
the officer
filmed holding mr floyd down but as the
mayor suggested
in that clip for many of the protesters
this is just
not about this one incident george
floyd's death has direct parallels with
another instance of police brutality
back in
2014 and once again i have to warn you
that
this video that we're about to play is
also distressing
this is 43 year old eric garner
who died after being arrested by a white
policeman in ferguson missouri
he was put in a chokehold and just like
george floyd he said
i can't breathe and just like this
week's incident
eric garner's death sparked a wave of
protests and riots
mr ghana's mother was in minneapolis
today and
this is what she said as you know this
happened to me
almost six years ago and this
is just opening up an old wound pouring
salt into it
they keep coming into the police
officers come into our neighborhoods
they they brutalize
they terrorize they murder our children
and we have done nothing
erigana's mother whose death was the
driving force in the black lives
matter movement let's speak to benjamin
crump a lawyer
who is representing george floyd's
family benjamin you also represent
the family of ahmed avery the 25 year
old man who was
killed by a father-son pair while he was
jogging in
georgia in february of this year we're
seeing
once again at the death of a black man
in police custody once again we're
talking about this what is going wrong
well unfortunately it has been open
season
on the killing of unarmed black men by
the
people who are supposed to protect and
serve us that being the police
and clearly with george floyd you do
think back to eric garner
but this is i can't breathe in 2020
i mean he was in handcuffs face down
and the police officer has his knee on
his neck not for one minute not for two
minutes not for three minutes not for
four minutes not for five minutes
not for six minutes not for seven
minutes but almost eight minutes
he's begging pleading for him to take
his knee off his neck even
the citizens on this public sidewalks
are saying
you're going to kill him but yet the
police offer him no humanity
and the last eight minutes of his life
is a tragic documentation of him being
killed
and it is murder and that's why we are
outraged
in minneapolis and all across america
black people in america saying
how much more we can't that we can't
breathe
benjamin george floyd was is described
by his family
as a gentle giant what does his family
want to see
his family wants the police officers to
be arrested immediately
and held to the full extent of the law
for
murdering george floyd while he laid
their opposing no threat to them and
it just makes no sense how you can
try to justify this unjustifiable killer
and just remind us when it comes to the
police officer
and the three others who were present
there what are they saying in defense of
themselves
they're trying to say that he was
resisting arrest and that
he posed a threat to them how can you
pose a threat when you're in handcuffs
and face down on the ground
it makes no sense in the police report
that they released
the night before their video got out
was full of lies because it said that he
died of a medical condition
it did not mention anything about the
police having his knee on his neck for
over eight
minutes it didn't mention anything about
the people on the sidewalk saying take
your knee off him you're gonna kill him
this was completely unnecessary what
they did to george floyd
another unarmed black man in america who
is killed by the police
what is happening with the u.s police
is it when we talk about these
cases so many of these cases of course
you back
you also represented trayvon martin's
family who was shot dead in 2017 at just
the age of 17.
is it fair to say that there is
systematic systemic racism in the u.s
police force
well we believe there's systemic racism
in the
united states criminal justice system
whether it be the police force whether
it be the court systems
we feel that they are uh targeting
young people of color especially black
men
for the prison industrial complex so
whether they're killing us
on the street corners like with george
floyd like with eric gardner
like with tamir rice 12 years old like
with michael brown and ferguson
like with terence crutcher and toast
oklahoma are they killing us in the
courtroom
our young people are being targeted by
systematic racism
george floyd's family are appealing to
people who have been clashing with the
police they say they understand their
anger but it
it is important to find their voice in
terms of the legal system
what are you saying to the people who
are clashing on the streets of
minneapolis well we're saying
we're talking to two people the people
on the streets but also the people of
authority
we're saying to them we understand your
pain god knows
nobody's hurting more than george
floyd's family
and his children but we want you to
protest
peacefully uh understanding that it is
emotional
and to the people in authority we're
saying that black lives matter
we're saying what dr martin luther king
said that
protesting writing is the language of
the unheard
where we want to be heard our lives
matter
black lives matter george floyd life
mattered
benjamin crump on those powerful words
we'll leave it there the lawyer
representing
george floyd's family thank you so much
for your time
thank you