The Student Room Group

George Floyd killed in America by police

George Floyd, a black American man, was killed by Minneapolis police after being stopped in traffic and arrested for using a fake cheque. A policeman kneeled on his neck and suffocated him while three others looked on.

Thoughts? Personally, I'm pretty pro-police but this was way out of line. He shouldn't have needed that amount of violence to subdue him when he was being arrested for a non-violent crime, and suffocating someone who's innocent until proven otherwise isn't on. I personally hope the officers responsible get the strongest penalty possile under US law.

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Video is alarming.
Thank goodness for citizen journalism otherwise it might never have come up.
Interested to see what the cops were planning to do after the called the ambulance. Was there a cover up?
Crazy dangerous way of subduing a person.
In a lot of these kind of videos of police going overboard (a bit of an understatement in this instance) I would wait for all of the facts to come out before making a judgement but this was just way too far. If you see the video you can see that not only is the police officer pinning the guy down with his knee and trapping him, he’s actively pressing into his neck. One guy in the video has it exactly right when he said the police officer looked like he was enjoying it and thought he was a big man.

I read that four of the officers involved have been fired, hopefully a murder charge follows.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by Underscore__
In a lot of these kind of videos of police going overboard (a bit of an understatement in this instance) I would wait for all of the facts to come out before making a judgement but this was just way too far. If you see the video you can see that not only is the police officer pinning the guy down with his knee and trapping him, he’s actively pressing into his neck. One guy in the video has it exactly right when he said the police officer looked like he was enjoying it and thought he was a big man.

I read that four of the officers involved have been fired, hopefully a murder charge follows.

Exactly. I'm pro-police as they come but this seems like straight up murder to me. Unfortunately some cops think the uniform gives you the right to knock everyone else around.
Original post by 999tigger
Video is alarming.
Thank goodness for citizen journalism otherwise it might never have come up.
Interested to see what the cops were planning to do after the called the ambulance. Was there a cover up?
Crazy dangerous way of subduing a person.

There was a cover up initially, they said the death was due to a "medical distress" failing to mention kneeling on his throat. It wasn't until the video surfaced that they actually came clean.
Original post by DiddyDec
There was a cover up initially, they said the death was due to a "medical distress" failing to mention kneeling on his throat. It wasn't until the video surfaced that they actually came clean.

Interesting. Watched that thing on the witness statement that was interesting as well.
Glad we arent dealing with the George Floyd thing. Most similar I can remember is the one that caused the riots in Tottenham when the guy was shot. Without that video though theyd probably get away with it, unless ofc the autopsy and the coroner did their job. Not Americas finest hour. Bit speechless how any training manual would thing bringing pressure to a persons most vulnerable point with little control was a good idea. Crazy US police you just dont argue.
Original post by LiberOfLondon
Exactly. I'm pro-police as they come but this seems like straight up murder to me. Unfortunately some cops think the uniform gives you the right to knock everyone else around.


Sometimes it makes me wonder what they were like before smartphones but at other times it seems like they couldn’t care how many people are recording them.

Clearly a man being killed for no good reason is by far the most horrible thing to come out of this but what also really annoys me about these sorts of incidents is the police seem either oblivious or just don’t care about the fact that this only makes things worse. The public, particular black Americans, are only going to grow more mistrusting of police because of incidents like these which escalates future interactions even where police officers are being reasonable and the cycle continues. It’s about time the police stop this kind of brotherhood they have where they defend each other and actually start calling each other out when one of them behaves like such a cretin.


Original post by DiddyDec
There was a cover up initially, they said the death was due to a "medical distress" failing to mention kneeling on his throat. It wasn't until the video surfaced that they actually came clean.


I think I’d be medically distressed if someone was kneeling on my neck and cutting off my air supply.
Original post by 999tigger
Interesting. Watched that thing on the witness statement that was interesting as well.
Glad we arent dealing with the George Floyd thing. Most similar I can remember is the one that caused the riots in Tottenham when the guy was shot. Without that video though theyd probably get away with it, unless ofc the autopsy and the coroner did their job. Not Americas finest hour. Bit speechless how any training manual would thing bringing pressure to a persons most vulnerable point with little control was a good idea. Crazy US police you just dont argue.

Law is my hobby :lol:

I wasn't in country when those riots kicked off, only ever heard about it on the foreign news updates.
America is just a completely different place in terms of culture, we may share a similar language but that is where it ends.
Original post by 999tigger
Interesting. Watched that thing on the witness statement that was interesting as well.
Glad we arent dealing with the George Floyd thing. Most similar I can remember is the one that caused the riots in Tottenham when the guy was shot. Without that video though theyd probably get away with it, unless ofc the autopsy and the coroner did their job. Not Americas finest hour. Bit speechless how any training manual would thing bringing pressure to a persons most vulnerable point with little control was a good idea. Crazy US police you just dont argue.

The Tottenham shooting seemed justified - it was a shooting of a violent bloke in a car chase. This was a completely unnecessary killing of a non-violent criminal.
Original post by Underscore__
Sometimes it makes me wonder what they were like before smartphones but at other times it seems like they couldn’t care how many people are recording them.

Just look at Jim Crow-era policing and you'll get your answer.
Life as minority in America people
Original post by LiberOfLondon
The Tottenham shooting seemed justified - it was a shooting of a violent bloke in a car chase. This was a completely unnecessary killing of a non-violent criminal.

Just look at Jim Crow-era policing and you'll get your answer.

I am saying thats the nearest I could think of, although am sure there will be some in cutsody deaths as well.
Original post by LiberOfLondon
The Tottenham shooting seemed justified - it was a shooting of a violent bloke in a car chase. This was a completely unnecessary killing of a non-violent criminal.

Just look at Jim Crow-era policing and you'll get your answer.

He wasn't a criminal, at least, be wasn't committing a crime. He was in a store and they called the police because they believed he was cashing a fraudulent cheque. The cheque was fine.
They wont serve a day of jail time, black people are seen as less equal to whites they have very little rights in the US.. it’s not even half as bad here.. I’m black myself and in all honesty most of the whites I come into daily contact with are just normal and treat me fairly. Been stopped once or twice by police as I fitted a description of someone they were looking for but they spoke to me respectfully and I appreciated they were just doing their job and not trying to be shady so no problems.

That said I remember a case a few years back where this white cop killed a black man in a shop in London as he thought he was hiding drugs as the guy took two pills but turned out the guy took paracetamol..

There are many whites that will always blame the victim if the victim is black tbh but they are blinded by prejudice and it’s pretty pointless even talking to these people (they exist on TSR also).
Original post by LiberOfLondon
The Tottenham shooting seemed justified - it was a shooting of a violent bloke in a car chase. This was a completely unnecessary killing of a non-violent criminal.

Just look at Jim Crow-era policing and you'll get your answer.

you cant compare Mark Duggan to George Floyd, RIP to both of them but they aren't the same
Racism long ago shaped the structure of American society. It existed in a systematic form. People would wrongly justify acts like George Floyd's shooting and get away with it. Today racism still exists, but in a covert form, in which we rush to deny its existence yet witness its effects on a daily basis.

As much as you try to negate it, humanity is vanishing and we're not speaking up as we should be doing. Floyd's killing will sadly make the headlines for a few more days before the world forgets his name along with the innocent others mercilessly stripped of their rights.

Societal power is strong. Nations built on a representative democracy like the UK and US are world leading for a reason, most legislation is passed if the public endorses it. Racism if not overthrown, can be diminished, if we show continual will and ambition, and unify our voices against this hatred just as the world has with the unlawful murder of George Floyd.
(edited 3 years ago)
Original post by Ballon D’Or
George Floyd's shooting

He wasn't shot :erm:
It's vile. He was clearly groaning saying he couldn't breathe. Kneeling on someone's neck for 5-7 minutes...wtf did he expect? The cop knew what he was doing tbh.

It's actually sickening, there's no way this isn't murder or at least manslaughter surely?
Reply 17
Original post by LiberOfLondon
George Floyd, a black American man, was killed by Minneapolis police after being stopped in traffic and arrested for using a fake cheque. A policeman kneeled on his neck and suffocated him while three others looked on.

Thoughts? Personally, I'm pretty pro-police but this was way out of line. He shouldn't have needed that amount of violence to subdue him when he was being arrested for a non-violent crime, and suffocating someone who's innocent until proven otherwise isn't on. I personally hope the officers responsible get the strongest penalty possile under US law.

I saw this thread and was honestly terrified because I know another George Floyd. No offense, and please understand when I say I am a little relieved.
(edited 3 years ago)
Always with these stories, one thing really does stand out for me, the difference between the standards of the police in the US and the UK. There is a clear difference. The police here seem to be far better trained than those in the US. Maybe, lower entry criteria/training standards are contributing to these deaths in the US.
Reply 19
Murder in broad daylight. Just shows the social position of African Americans and the extent of white privilege in America. Black Americans should not fear simple daily actions that their white counterparts do. It’s terrible that lynching still exists today.

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