In the wake of the aftermath that was the death of George Floyd, the University of Minnesota announced it would limit its relationship with the Minneapolis Police Department, the school announced Thursday.
Floyd, is the 46-year-old black male who died Monday while in Minneapolis police custody. A video that surfaced showed officer Derek Chauvin (who is white) kneeling on Floyd’s neck, amid his pleas that he could not breath and eventually stopped breathing. Two officers held Floyd down as this was occurring and two other officers interacted with bystanders pleading for the officers to stop.
According to ESPN, all four officers involved with the incident were fired from the force but Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey demanded criminal charges for the officers. There has been a country-wide outcry to demand bigger, justifiable and further justice be brought down on these officers and more specifically towards officer Chauvin who murdered Floyd.
The Minneapolis Police Department is often used during state and collegiate athletics whether at TCF Stadium and Williams Arena for football and basketball games. This incident happened about five miles from the football stadium.
Sports athletes, celebrities, and well-known figures around the country voiced their frustrations, disappointments and sadness about the incident including Lebron James among others.
There has been a long and well-documented history of friction and violence between police forces and people of color and with the assistance of social media and this new digital age hopefully these incidents will be lessened and the people responsible will face appropriate justice in time.
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