Charges against the four police officers involved in the arrest and later death of George Floyd were filed by the Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. One of the four law enforcement knelt on Floyd's neck after being arrested and allegedly resisting officers.
Irony of justice
"Why is the man who killed George Floyd, not in jail?" Frey said during a press conference on Wednesday. He also added that if he or anyone else had been the one to do it, they would be immediately placed behind bars, as reported by USA Today.
Specific charges were not detailed by Mayor Frey and added that his motivation for the charges was based on the video showing the violent arrest.
The Mayor said that the officers did not have a split-second decision to make, but rather, had the whole of five minutes to think on what they were doing and how it affected the victim and that they could have turned back and let the black man breathe.
Thousands of protesters rallied at the intersection where the arrest of Floyd took place demanding justice. The crowd met with officers after marching to a city police precinct.
The crude actions by its members have resulted in the Minneapolis Police Department receiving violent protests. More than a dozen officers were seen fitted with tactical gear standing atop Precinct Three. The law enforcement fired projectiles and gas to disperse the crowd that broke their windows.
The protesters used milk to minimize the effect of the gas by splashing it onto their faces. Some of the members stood and raised their hands in the air before shouting "hands up, don't shoot" and "I can't breathe."
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The struggle for equality
One of the protesters, Annette Wiseman, a 19-year-old, was in the middle of the crowd when tear gas hit her, prompting her to pour milk on her eyes to ease the pain. Another member went over to her and poured more milk and told her to get goggles. She was bleeding through a bandage wrapped around her shoulder, where a rubber bullet allegedly hit her.
Wiseman, a black and Native American, joined the movement to spread awareness that black people are treated differently than other races and that it has been going on for too long.
She added that they had no power to control the circumstance but desperately trying to fight. She shared that she had a daughter to raise in this kind of environment, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The four officers involved in the incident have been fired, and their arrests have been called for by the family of the victim along with their attorney, Ben Crump. The identity of the suspects has been revealed as Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane.
Derek Chauvin, the officer that is seen kneeling on George Floyd's neck, will be represented by Attorney Tom Kelly.
Floyd's sister, Bridgett Floyd, said that the four officers should be charged with murder and that their licenses and jobs be taken away. They deserve to be placed behind bars, she added.
Bridgett noted how her brother begged for his life and cried for help during the arrest, and none of the officers was willing to help him.
