Beyonce and Rihanna have demanded justice for George Floyd after he died earlier this week, during a brutal arrest.
Floyd, an unarmed and handcuffed black man, died after being arrested – with footage showing police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck as he cried out: ‘I can’t breathe!’
The four officers involved were fired, and Chauvin was arrested Friday on suspicion of third-degree murder, meaning he has been accused of killing George without prior intent, but with disregard for his life.
Sharing an emotional video on Instagram, Beyonce begged fans not to ‘normalise’ what happened, and hold people accountable for their actions.
‘We need justice for George Floyd,’ the 38-year-old began. ‘We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalise this pain.
‘I’m not only speaking to people of colour. If you’re white, black, brown, or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now.
‘No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of colour as less than human. We can no longer look away.’
‘George is all of our family in humanity. He’s family because he’s a fellow American,’ she continued.
‘There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes, someone has been charged but justice is far from being achieved.
‘Please sign the petition and continue to pray for peace, compassion, and healing for our country. Thank you so much.’
Rihanna also shared a lengthy post on the platform, explaining she has been ‘pushed’ to a heavy place in her heart over what happened.
Alongside a photo of George, the 32-year-old explained that she has kept away from social media as she couldn’t face seeing the footage of his arrest.
She told fans: ’For the last few days, the magnitude of devastation, anger, sadness I’ve felt has been overwhelming to say the least!
‘Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart! To the point of staying away from socials, just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyd’s voice again, begging over and over for his life!!!
‘The look of enticement, the pure joy and climax on the face of this bigot, murderer, thug, pig, bum, Derek Chauvin, haunts me!!
‘I can’t shake this! I can’t get over an ambulance pulling up to an arrest, a paramedic checking a pulse without removing the very thing that’s hindering it!
‘Is this that f**king normal??? If intentional MURDER is the fit consequence for “drugs” or “resisting arrest”….then what’s the fit consequence for MURDER???! #GeorgeFloyd #AhmaudArbery #BreonnaTaylor.’
Chauvin, who was filmed kneeling on George’s neck, was charged with third-degree murder on Friday.
Charging documents say that an autopsy performed did not ‘support a diagnosis of traumatic strangulation or asphyxiation.’ But they said factors including the restraint ‘likely contributed to his death.’
Those court papers also revealed that he had his knee on George’s neck for eight minutes 46 seconds – with the restraint continuing for two minutes and 53 seconds after he passed out.
Chauvin also faces a manslaughter charge.
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