BY: Liliana Rocio, Senior Editor For World Liberty TV

The death of George Floyd, an African-American man, occurred in Powderhorn, a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; 2 minutes and 53 seconds of which occurred after Floyd became unresponsive, according to the criminal complaint filed against Chauvin.

Officers Thomas K. Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng participated in Floyd’s arrest, with Kueng holding Floyd’s back, Lane holding his legs, and Thao looking on as he stood nearby.

The incident was recorded on the smartphones of bystanders. The arrest was made after Floyd allegedly attempted to use a $20 bill in a deli, which an employee identified as counterfeit. Police stated that Floyd “physically resisted” after being ordered to exit his vehicle before the video was filmed.

Protests are expected across the US and around the world for the second consecutive weekend after the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man killed in police custody.

The looting that occurred across New York City, prompting a curfew to be put in place, was an “intelligence failure” on behalf of the New York Police Department, said John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counter-terrorism, during a briefing.

Miller went on to say that looting was a feature of this protesting they weren’t anticipating and normally isn’t seen during these kinds of movements.

“We believe it was an opportunist action by regular criminal groups who decided to exploit this. And we hear that increasingly from the groups that are marching that they have nothing to do with that and are trying to disassociate themselves,” Miller said.

The Rev. Al Sharpton denounced racism and called for accountability in the criminal justice system as he delivered an eulogy Thursday for George Floyd.

“The reason we could never be who we wanted to be and dreamed of being is you kept your knee on our neck,” said Sharpton, the founder of the National Action Network.

Sharpton spoke near a casket carrying Floyd’s body at the North Central University in Minneapolis. The event was the first in a series of memorial services honoring Floyd.

Floyd’s family was joined by dozens of guests, including civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, Democratic Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, Martin Luther King III and actor Kevin Hart.

Following his eulogy, Sharpton directed attendees to join him in silence for 8 minutes and 46 seconds — the same amount of time than an officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck while he was in custody.”That’s a long time, Sharpton said. “That’s how long he was laying there.”The first service for Floyd was held on Thursday in Minneapolis. Family, friends and public officials gathered to honor him.

The first of a handful of services planned to honor Floyd’s life and mourn his death, hundreds of people, including family and civil rights leaders, were in attendance. Family remembered Floyd’s 46 years of life.

“We didn’t have much growing up … but we had a house full of love,” said Rodney Floyd, one of his brother Philonise Floyd, another of his brothers, remembered Floyd as someone everyone wanted to be around.

“They felt like they was the president. That’s how he made you feel,” Philonise Floyd said. “It’s amazing to me that he touched so many people’s hearts ’cause he’s been touching our hearts.”

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, a black man who died at the hands of New York City police and uttered the same words as Floyd — “I can’t breathe” — also attended. She stood with Sharpton during an 8 minute, 46 second “pause” during the funeral. That’s how long an officer’s knee was on Floyd’s neck.

A judge on Thursday set bail for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death at $1 million each, or $750,000 under certain conditions, including that they do not work in law enforcement or have any contact with Floyd’s family.

Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao appeared in court one day after they were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

The charges follow those first brought against Derek Chauvin, the officer who pinned Floyd to the ground by his neck for nearly 9 minutes.

Chauvin, 44, was arrested last week and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. But on Wednesday prosecutors charged him with a more serious count of second-degree murder.Lane and Kueng helped restrain Floyd, while Thao stood nearby.

All three officers appeared before Judge Paul R. Scoggin wearing orange prison uniforms and masks. Each stood inside a cubicle at a downtown Minneapolis courtroom. A plexiglass window provided a hole to speak through.

Thao appeared first. His lawyer noted that Thao provided a statement to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and turned himself in when an arrest warrant was issued.Attorneys for the two other defendants worked to contrast their clients’ experience as police officers with Chauvin’s, who spent more than 18 years with the Minneapolis Police Department.

When Floyd’s death took place, it was Kueng’s third shift as a police officer, said Thomas Plunkett, his attorney. Chauvin, he added, was Kueng’s training officer.Plunkett said Kueng turned to Chauvin at one point and said, “You can’t do this.”Lane had been on the police force for four days when Floyd died, according to his attorney Earl Gray. Lane was “doing everything he thought he was supposed to do as a four-day police officer,” Gray said.

“You’ve got a 20-year cop in the front and my guy is in the back there with four days,” Gray said after his court appearance. “I don’t know what you’re supposed to do as a cop.”When asked  whether he was implying Lane was following orders, Gray said no. But his client thought that what he was doing was right, Gray said, because Chauvin refused to turn Floyd on his side after Lane asked if they should.All defense lawyers argued for lower bail.

While officers are rarely convicted of on-duty killings, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he’s confident the evidence supports new and more serious charges.”George Floyd mattered. He was loved. His family was important. His life had value,” Ellison said. “We will seek justice for him and for you, and we will find it.”

In Conclusion , it is very sad what happened to George Floyd and many more before him  who were killed by the police, now there is some great police officers, here in New York City and nationwide, who are very honorable , doing there there work, as they should be doing.

They you have a bad few who make it bad for many good police officers, as these 4 police officers who were involved in the killing of George Floyd. So the peaceful protests are a great thing as we marched with many good people in New York city, to bring awareness to this cause, throughout the nation and worldwide.

Legislation, from the City, State and federal level has to be passed that these killings don’t ever happen, the Mayors of each city need to stand and start immediately , making changes to the policing laws, and immediately get rid of the Strangle Holds, (Chocking), then move on with the Government on the State level where Governors can enforce these laws for certain police officers who think they are above the law., then from there move on federal level , where laws can be passed and stop this brutality.

Eric Garner law , The hope is that the Eric Garner Law will make officers understand they cannot just kill us and walk free. It would mean that any officer who uses a chokehold on an unarmed civilian would be prosecuted in New York State.

Until these laws are passed by these politicians, we cannot feel safe if you are Black, Brown or Yellow. So please do start off with voting speaking calling your politicians on City, State and federal levels, and protesting peacefully, not looting  or vandalizing, as some people who did that.May God Rest George Floyd’s Soul, he will never be forgotten, he will be remembered for years to come.

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