Martin Luther King, Jr’s daughter Bernice King tweeted an image this week, which featured a photo of the recent killing of George Floyd, in which a police officer kneeled on his neck, next to a photo of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, kneeling in protest against police brutality. In her caption, she pointed out how some of the people who were furious over Kaepernick “taking a kneel” on the football field, seem unbothered by images of a police officer kneeling on a man’s neck.
If you’re unbothered or mildly bothered by the 1st knee, but outraged by the 2nd, then, in my father’s words, you’re “more devoted to order than to justice.” And more passionate about an anthem that supposedly symbolizes freedom than you are about a Black man’s freedom to live. pic.twitter.com/kxpVOEeTNR
— Be A King (@BerniceKing) May 26, 2020
The police department justified the killing by claiming that Floyd was resisting arrest, but security camera footage taken of the moments that he was put into handcuffs show that he was fully compliant with the officers.
MORE: Video obtained by CBS News shows what appears to be the start of the confrontation between George Floyd & Minneapolis police officers. A restaurant's security footage shows cops taking him into custody, but the restaurant owner says it does not show Floyd resisting arrest. pic.twitter.com/KR8r7B1WPl
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) May 26, 2020
The videos taken by onlookers show that Floyd was pleading for his life as officer Derek Chauvin held him to the ground by his neck. He told the officer that he couldn’t breathe and that he was in pain, but he was not resisting arrest at any point in the footage that has been made available. Even if he was resisting, officers are not authorized to use that brutal technique on suspects.
Sadly, Floyd lost consciousness from the pressure on his neck and died at the hospital shortly after. The four officers who were involved with the arrest have been fired, but the victim’s family, and the city’s mayor, are calling for criminal charges against the officers involved.
The situation that is taking place right now, is exactly the type of violence that Kaepernick was using his platform to bring attention to. For some reason, Kaepernick’s protest outraged many Americans, and it was a trending news story for over a year. However, it was his act of defiance that grabbed all of the headlines, while the motivation for his protest, police brutality, was largely left out of the conversation.
As you might know, tech giants like Facebook, Twitter, and Google (Also Youtube), increasingly censor information that does not fit the mainstream narrative. Freedom of speech should be the basic human right, however, in the current era, you are not allowed to share your views anymore. Fortunately, alternative platforms appear that are censorship-free. Minds.com is one of these platforms. You can sign up for free, HERE, and make sure you follow Truth Theory on Minds.