George Floyd’s brother calls for an end to the violence
George Floyd’s brother has made a desperate plea for rioters to stop, after NBA great Dennis Rodman lashed their actions saying they are not “f**king animals”.
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The family of the man whose death plunged America into a week of chaos and voice has made a passionate plea with rioters to stop, saying George Floyd would “not want” the protests in his name.
“I understand y’all are upset. But I doubt y’all are half as upset as I am,” said George Floyd’s brother, Terrence Floyd.
“So if I’m not over here wilding out, if I’m not over here blowing up stuff, if I’m not over here messing with my community, then what are y’all doing? Y’all doing nothing, but that’s not going to bring my brother back at all.”
Mr Floyd spoke over a bullhorn to crowds who joined him and other family members at a memorial created in Minneapolis where George Floyd, 46, was killed by a white policeman last Monday.
“My family is a peaceful family. My family is God-fearing,” he said, and added that the looting and violence spreading across America would achieve nothing and would likely delay justice.
“Let’s switch it up, y’all, let’s switch it up, and do this peacefully, please,” he said.
He said of his brother: “I know he would not want y’all to be doing this”.
It comes after NBA great Dennis Rodman called for an end to looting in response to the death of George Floyd, telling his social media followers Sunday that “we’re human beings, not f**king animals.”
The New York Post reports that businesses all over America were ravaged during the weekend as protests continued to escalate.
“I think someone needs to come out and say, ‘Hey, guys, why are we looting? Why are we stealing? Why are we creating more issues, more problems?” the 59-year-old Rodman said in an Instagram video, titled “Rest in Power George Floyd.”
“This is a bad, bad situation. But the fact that you’re gonna protest, protest in the right way. You don’t have to go and burn down things, steal things, burn things and stuff like that.”
Officer Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter after he pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck during an arrest.
Floyd, who died soon after, had been suspected of spending a counterfeit $20 note.
Rodman, who sympathised with the peaceful protests taking place, added that resorting to violence was not the solution and “we have enough issues with” coronavirus.
Black Nikes Matter. #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/uzfXyUTAUO
— Ishita Yadav (@IshitaYadav) June 1, 2020
Rodman was among many athletes and celebrities — including his former Bulls teammate Michael Jordan — to speak out about the Floyd protests.
Rodman is also a friend of US President Donald Trump, who was forced to hide in a bunker on Friday as protests circled the White House.
“Please understand … we have to live together,” Rodman said. “We’re human beings, we’re not f**king animals.”
CHEESECAKE LOOTER BECOMES INTERNET HERO
A woman captured on camera stealing a cheesecake from a shop has caused a frenzy on the internet.
The woman was dubbed a “hero” after video caught on camera by a local news station in Seattle went viral.
“You see someone actually walking away with a cheesecake there after the Cheesecake Factory was looted,” the KIRO 7 reporter tells viewers.
“Unclear where they may have gotten that.”
Cheesecake Factory in Downtown Seattle was looted and @KIRO7Seattle caught someone walking away with an entire cheesecake pic.twitter.com/lvzbdgNJcX
— Ms. Chanandler Bong (@joefarrell86) May 31, 2020
RIOTING AND LOOTING
But violent protest, vandalism, arson and widespread looting continues to rock the US.
In some cities, thieves smashed their way into department stores and retail chain stores and ran off with as much merchandise as they could carry.
The looting is leaving shop owners, many of them smaller business owners who are just beginning to reopen their businesses after the coronavirus shutdowns, to clean up their shattered stores.
San Francisco police officers arrested at least 80 people Sunday night on violating a curfew and looting charges.
Fifteen people were arrested after a second night of violence erupted Sunday night in Madison, Wisconsin, with police firing tear gas as protesters threw rocks and damaged store downtown stores following an afternoon peaceful protest.
Police reported that multiple stores were looted in the business corridor that connects the state Capitol to the University of Wisconsin campus.
Looting was rampant in downtown Washington and elsewhere in the city as protests turned violent for a third night.
Protesters broke into a branch of Capital Bank, and empty jewellery boxes could be seen scattered on the sidewalk outside a Mervis Diamonds store.
After protesters started looting a La Colombe coffee shop, someone in the crowd yelled, “What are you looting a coffee shop for? You’re messing up the whole message.”
Washington State’s Gov. Jay Inslee activated 200 more National Guard troops to respond to looting and vandalism in Bellevue, east of Seattle where 400 members of the guard had been deployed to help contain protests.
PEACEFUL PROTESTS
While many of the demonstrations around the country have descended into violence, despite curfews in big cities across the US and the deployment of thousands of National Guard soldiers over the past week, many other demonstrations have been peaceful.
In several capital and smaller cities, protests have been both peaceful and characterised by racially diverse crowds.
In other places, police tried to calm tensions by kneeling in solidarity with demonstrators.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said demonstrations that drew about 1000 people carrying signs and chanting “George Floyd” and “Black lives matter” were overwhelmingly peaceful on Sunday.
The vast majority of demonstrators dispersed without incident before the 8pm curfew.
TRUMP SLAMS GOVERNORS AS ‘WEAK’
It comes as US President Donald Trump on Monday derided the nation’s governors as “weak” and demanded tougher crackdowns on protesters in the aftermath of another night of violent protests in dozens of American cities.
Mr Trump spoke to governors on a video teleconference with law enforcement and national security officials, telling the local leaders they “have to get much tougher” amid nationwide protests and criticising their responses.
“Most of you are weak,” Mr Trump said. “You have to arrest people.”
The days of protests were triggered by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after he was pinned at the neck by a white Minneapolis police officer. They turned violent in several cities, with looting and mayhem, and fires ignited in the historic park across from the White House.
Attorney-General Bill Barr, who was also on the Monday call, told governors they have to “dominate” the streets and control, not react to crowds, and urged them to “go after troublemakers.”
Originally published as George Floyd’s brother calls for an end to the violence