KENYA’S PROF. LUMUMBA DESCRIBES MURDER OF GEORGE FLOYD AS RETURN OF BLACK SLAVERY
By our reporter
www.mknewslink.com
In Kenya—-
Kenya’s renowned professor, Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba has condemned the murder of George Floyd, a black American, which occurred in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, on May 25, 2020.
Lumumba a staunch Pan-Africanist in his message posted on Facebook said the Floyd’s death reminds Africa of the days of slavery.
“The world has witnessed footage reminiscent of the days of slavery where a police officer brutally and callously used his knee to snuff life out of George Floyd with his two colleagues tacitly urging him to commit murder.”
“This inhumanity that is visited on blacks with disturbing frequency must be condemned in the strongest terms and punished in accordance with the law.”Prof. Lumumba wrote on his Facebook page.
George Floyd, 46 was the father of two daughters, aged 6 and 22.
Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; 2 minutes and 53 seconds of which occurred after Floyd became unresponsive, according to the criminal complaint filed against Chauvin.
Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the road, while Chauvin had his knee on his neck. Officers Thomas K. Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng participated in Floyd’s arrest, with Kueng holding Floyd’s back, Lane holding his legs, and Thao looking on as he stood nearby.
The incident occurred during Floyd’s arrest in Powderhorn, a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, and was recorded on the smartphones of bystanders.
The arrest was made after Floyd allegedly attempted to use a $20 bill in a deli, which an employee identified as counterfeit. Police stated that Floyd “physically resisted” after being ordered to exit his vehicle before the video was filmed.
Video recording by a witness, showing the arrested Floyd repeating “Please”, “I can’t breathe”, and “Don’t kill me”, was widely circulated on social media platforms and broadcast by the media. All four officers were fired the next day.
On May 29, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death.
After Floyd’s death, demonstrations and protests in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area were initially peaceful on May 26, but later that day became violent as windows were smashed at a police precinct, two stores set on fire, and many stores looted and damaged. Some demonstrators skirmished with police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets.
TODATE: protests against the murder of George Floyd have spread to several states of the United States of America.
In an Instagram video post, Beyonce promoted a handful of petitions calling for legal action, adding in a video, “We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain.”
Oprah Winfrey wrote of Floyd, “…His family and friends say he was a gentle giant. His death has now shown us he had a giant soul. If the largeness of a soul is determined by its sphere of influence, George Floyd is a mighty soul” adding, #GeorgeFloyd: We speak your name.”
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