An allegedly counterfeit $20 bill. Which George Floyd may not have even known was counterfeit, he may have received it from someone else as change or payment. Has anyone alleged that George Floyd himself actually created this alleged counterfeit bill?
We should all be screaming. Loudly.
Given no baseball this year, I came across this interesting side note while in the process of consoling myself with baseball history specific to long-gone stadiums, a subject that offers endless stories. When reading about the outrageously-built Griffith Stadium located in the historically black neighborhood of LeDroit Park in Washington D.C., I came across this story from 1918. A ‘report’ that a black man had raped several white women was – apparently – enough of a reason for a mob of white men to march toward yet another historically-black neighborhood near Griffith Stadium and seek revenge. They were stopped cold by a 2000-strong group of black men who – having learned of the approaching mob – used Griffith Stadium as a staging area to arm themselves and from which they would (and did) intercept the mob. No fighting was reported. The sight of 2000 prepared armed men protecting their home turf tends to change minds.
I don’t believe anyone has even confirmed that George Floyd actually passed the bill. After all he was a large black man so he probably fit the profile. That seems to be all that’s been needed in the past to arrest or kill a black man.
“large black man so he probably fit the profile. That seems to be all that’s been needed in the past to arrest or kill a black man.”
Agreed.
Not that it’s relevant, but even that doesn’t seem quite right - it’s not like he’s suspected of making dodgy bills, only that he allegedly had one. I.e. that he was potentially the victim of counterfeiting, himself.
A black person came into the orbit of a cop. That’s all it comes down to. The narrative in this case that he “resisted arrest” turned out (surprise, surprise!) to be a lie as the whole thing was captured on a nearby security camera. But this is what happens - the crimes get fabricated to justify the treatment, rather than the opposite, which is what white people experience.
A wrinkle to the story is that apparently the cop moonlighted as security at the same place George Floyd had that job, working together for a year. Either the workplace was so segregated the cop didn’t recognize him, or he recognized Floyd (who by all accounts was a lovely guy) and still treated him that way.
Someone had a twitter thread about what would need to change to stop white supremacy in the police force and actually hold cops accountable (or at least stop them from being on police forces), and it’s depressing as hell, because the current situation is due to a number of overlapping systems, almost none of which came about due to laws (or are otherwise susceptible to oversight):
Supposedly all the neo-nazis are coming to town to stir up a race war. This white guy calmly causing property damage to make the protesters look worse sure seems to fit that description
Yeah, I wish someone could have taken him down and unmasked him, maybe collected ID and a good face shot, then let him go. Unlike in GA this would have been a great exercise of citizens arrest.
It’s worse than that. He didn’t counterfeit himself (I don’t think), he tried to pass a counterfeit bill. Counterfeiting currency is a big deal under Federal law (rightly), but passing counterfeit currency in MN under state law (if less than $1,000) is only a $3K/1 year max penalty (And on first offense I imagine he’s going to get less than that and not, well, summary execution).
assuming he even knew he had a bad twenty, assuming the store was right in thinking it was a counterfeit bill, and assuming he was the one who used it
Does it mater what he did? A serial killer who surrenders quietly should not be killed by the arresting officers either, right? That said, I understand they had him completely under control and they should absolulty be arrested and charged with murder. In no way is this OK.
Hopefully it’s more than a symbolic gesture.
I hate to say that this is so much worse than Oscar Grant, but Jesus, it’s so much worse than Oscar Grant. Mehserle acted within a very short time window and then did something horrible. This guys had eight fucking minutes to do something else. And they still did this.
since he was armed with a hammer, calm, and clearly knew what he was doing - it would have taken a concerted effort to unmask him safely.
i get why people didn’t intervene.
im sure people also would have intervened in floyd’s murder except for the uniform and the guns.
I agree. It wasn’t just a killing, it was torture for 8 minutes, leading to death. To me, that means it was murder with special circumstances, an intention to inflict pain.
It’s probably for the best that they didn’t. What are the chances that a neo-nazi on a field trip to a black protest to stir up trouble is unarmed?
No, it doesn’t fucking matter and that wasn’t my fucking point.
I AM BLACK, and I have lived in the US for my entire life.
That means that everyday I live with the possibility that I can be abused and killed with impunity, and the people who would kill me can get away with it scott-free if they are White, and even more so if they wear a badge.
This is true, no matter what I do, no matter how educated I am, no matter how eloquently I speak, no matter how much money I make, no matter how decently I live my life.
This is my reality 24/7, so while it’s unfortunate that you seem to have misunderstood the depth of my rage I’ma still need you to back up and not question how the fuck I feel right now.
I donno if it was better or worse, both are completely fucked up.
(I’m listening to you.)
I am trying to agree with what you are feeling. This is in no way ok. Even assuming the worst possible crime, this is murder. No one should have to live with that possibility. You should be able to view the police arriving as a good thing, but you cannot. You should be mad.
