A wave of riots sweeps across America, and Jewish communities watch and wait as violence flares
With reporting by Yochonon Donn and Omri Nahmias
An unemployed restaurant worker enters a corner shop in Minneapolis and buys a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. The man, 46-year-old George Floyd, was fired from his restaurant job weeks prior when the coronavirus pandemic struck.
Employees call police, and when they arrive, they pull Floyd out of his car. At first, he is questioned on the sidewalk, but when police officers try to put him in the back of the squad car, he protests, claiming he is claustrophobic, and falls on the pavement. Police officers — there are four police cars at the scene by this time — succeed in stuffing him in the back seat of the car, but for reasons that are not entirely clear, minutes later he is pulled out and dragged to the ground.
One officer, Derek Chauvin, pins his knee into Floyd’s neck despite the suspect being handcuffed from behind and the presence of three other police officers. A heartrending video of the arrest shows Floyd pleading for help, calling for “Mama” and telling the officers that he can’t breathe. Chauvin keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes. For three of those minutes Floyd is unconscious.
Create a free account to keep reading.
