“This Can’t Be Forgotten”
These are the words of Charlotte Mountain, MWEG’s anti-racism committee lead. Charlotte is a black woman living in America, and her oldest son is a police officer. The video she refers to is that of the murder of George Floyd. A simple internet search for Darnella Frazier, the woman who shot the film, will help you find it.
I watched the video twice, because the first time I was absolutely in shock. The second watch was to make sense of what I saw. The video I watched was attached to a news article that claimed George Floyd (unnamed at that time) had later died, and I did not believe that. I believe I saw Mr. Floyd die in the video.
I believe that because of the response of the EMTs — which was to take a pulse and then do absolutely nothing with him but cart him away (no chest compressions or sternum rub or “can you hear me”). After watching twice, I knew he had died on video. I am not a doctor, but I would love to see a doctor analyze what we saw there. There was a good amount of time that he did not move at all. In fact, the EMTs did not even ask the cop to take his knee off the man’s neck.
My feeling is that this was an act of terrorism. There was no reason for that officer to do what he did other than to send a message to everyone who was watching. I believe this officer, listening to Mr. Floyd scream, and listening to the people around scream for him to not kill this man, should be charged with death by torture. If his goal was to restrain the man, he could have released some of the pressure at any time. And he opted not to. There was no reason for this man to die, other than the officer felt like it.
We have always done our lynchings in public.
I want white people to watch the video, no matter how squeamish you are or how painful it is. I want you to see it. Not as a photo from a news article, not a, “I have heard such things go on, why do I need to see this” — it needs to be FELT. I also think you need to watch the mayor’s press conference. The mayor cried while speaking. And I think that is important. I heard grief in his voice. If you watch that video and do not have a moment of pure grief of great magnitude, then there are things you need to re-assess about yourself. Is this just the most horrible thing I have ever seen in my life, or am I a person who can look at that and say, “He must have done something to deserve it.” If you are the latter, I don’t know what I can do to help you.
To look at that video is to realize that, to some extent, this is something that could happen to anybody.
What do I want white people to do? Write a letter. To the police chief, to the mayor, to the justice department. Even if you did it yesterday, do it again today, and tomorrow and every day. Write it again and again and again. Don’t move on to the next thing. This is the man that you saw die.
This can’t be forgotten.
7 Comments
Harieta
There is no way I can make sense of what I saw and heard in that video. That was a deliberate display of callousness and cruelty that leaves any trace of humanity behind.
Rebecca Price
I want to write letters. What should I say?
Lisa
Here’s a good place to start: https://library.mormonwomenforethicalgovernment.org/encouraging-local-police-reform-letters-to-local-officials/
denise grayson
As a mother, HCP (retired RN CDE) and former pharmacy owner, this continued brutality by our law enforcement officers, and the entitled privileged of our country must stop. I am so tired of being seen as an person under suspicion, or inferior. I have been victim of and witness of bigotry for 67 years. I am living a comfortable life, but it doesn’t matter your station in life, it seeks you out, like a insidious fog. Don’t you think it’s time to stop the madness? Please work with your police leadership and the minority community in working together to work out issues, and sensitivity. We know not all officers are horrible and non-caring. They do hard jobs, perhaps you can prevent another person being hurt or losing their lives, and an officer losing his reputation to heightened emotions. Thank you for your time.
denise grayson
This the letter, I can send to my local authorities.
Rebecca Clark
Charlotte,
As I sat and watched the video horrified yesterday, I too feel as if I watched a torture death. That officer just kept the pressure on George Floyd’s neck even though he was pleading and saying that he can’t breathe and even when bystanders were begging him to get his knee off of his neck. That policeman deserves the same slow suffocating death that he inflicted upon Mr. Floyd. I feel like ever since Donald Trump was put in the office of the president that all the crazy white racists came out from their trash holes. What is wrong with people??? I don’t know how anyone with a soul can watch that video and not see a purely evil act. I want to know what I can do to help make radical changes in racial equality. This is ridiculous.
Rebecca Tolk Clark
Kay Gearllach
I watched George Floyd die that morning. I watched the entire seven minutes in horror. I have attached all my comments to the Minneapolis Police Department.
I am a recently retired Emergency Department Tech. NOTHING, absolutely nothing the medics did was protocol for that situation. They could not have determined anything with that cursory check of Mr. Floyd’s carotid. They should have insisted on un-handcuffing him and begun either CPR if they thought he was dead, or some other immediate intervention if he were still alive. They didn’t even use proper lifting techniques to get him onto the cot. He was rolled and they almost their grip on him.
I live on the West coast. By mid aftenoon EST the video had been sanitized. I found it on TMZ.
I’ve seen many people die over the years, I have never seen anything so horrible as the way George Floyd die, right in front of my eyes.