Dear editor,
Welcome to America, the home of the white mass shooters and land of “No black lives matter.” We have been taught that America is the land of the free and the home of the brave but I’m having a hard time believing that statement in light of what happened to African-Americans these days.
George Floyd was another black man to die in police custody in Minneapolis.
Contrary to police report, a new video footage shed light on the moments leading up to Floyd’s arrest, showing a white officer kneeling on his neck for five minutes even though Floyd was handcuffed. The victim appears to be complying with officers and not resisting arrest. The video also showed Floyd pleading to the officer that he could not breathe.
The day after Floyd’s death, protesters filled the street where he died and marched about 2 1/2 hours to a city police precinct chanting and carrying banners that read, “I can’t breathe,” and “Jail killer KKKops.”
Regardless of whether this man did or did not commit a crime, this is abusive behavior by the 4 police officers can only be described as a racist act and a senseless murder. It looks like those white officers were taking a cue from their idol President Trump, who not long ago called his former African-American aide a “dog.”
White police officers are held to different standards. When a Minneapolis Muslim police officer shot and killed an innocent white Australian woman 3 years ago, he was asked to surrender his badge and handgun and he was later sentenced to 12 1/2 years in jail for murder.
After all, Nike spokesperson Colin Kaepernick was right about white police officers gunning down black men on the streets of America with impunity. That is not the America I knew and loved.
Mahmoud El-Yousseph
