We Need Justice for George Floyd

By: Charli Gaklin
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​On Monday May 25th, a black man named George Floyd was brutally murdered by a Minneapolis police officer. An officer knelt on Floyd’s neck while Floyd pleaded with him to get off and stated that he could not breathe several times. A video of the murder, which was shot by a bystander, was shared throughout social media platforms with condemnations of the officers who have since been terminated from their job. Despite being let go, the officers have not been charged with any criminal offenses.

​Similarly to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, this horrific incident has brought the conversation of both police brutally against minorities, specifically black people. Black men in particular are 2.5 times as likely to be murdered by police than white men, that’s about 1 in 1,000 black men. Black men are the most vulnerable when it comes to police brutality due to obvious racism and stereotypes. In my head I keep wondering: Why are these incidents still happening and why do people still not care about police brutality? This needs to stop. The racism and the violence against innocent people is unacceptable in this day and age.

​We as a country need to do better. While other politicians from across the country have sent out statements, President Trump has yet to speak on Floyd’s death, however, he still continues to tweet. Something needs to change in terms of the mistreatment of black people by police. We, as both Americans and human beings need to take action to ensure equality and justice for all.