Sen. Kamala Harris says she thinks the now-former police officer filmed pinning George Floyd to the ground until he became unconscious should be charged with murder following his death.
The California Democrat said on Thursday that there needs to be “swift accountability” for the death, which has sparked a two-day wave of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that turned violent Wednesday night.
“Yesterday’s protests in Los Angeles and Minneapolis make it clear that people are rightfully hurting over George Floyd’s death. We need swift accountability,” Harris said. “The officer who killed George Floyd must be arrested for murder and every officer involved must be held accountable.”
Yesterday’s protests in Los Angeles and Minneapolis make it clear that people are rightfully hurting over George Floyd’s death. We need swift accountability.
The officer who killed George Floyd must be arrested for murder and every officer involved must be held accountable.
— Kamala Harris (@SenKamalaHarris) May 28, 2020
Just one day prior, Harris, formerly California’s attorney general, said that “there should be a federal investigation into civil rights abuses.”
“Throughout our country, we’ve historically seen racism and structural racism influence the way that the laws of America are enforced, and this is not new. It has been going on for a long time,” she said during a Skype interview with Univision posted to social media on Wednesday.
George Floyd was begging to be able to breathe. By all counts this was a public execution. pic.twitter.com/YmkLkxppX0
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 27, 2020
In a video taken during the incident, Floyd, 46, can be seen being pinned to the ground by a police officer’s knee. The officer, who has since been fired along with three others, has been identified as Derek Chauvin. Floyd, a black man, could be heard begging for his life and for air as he slowly fell unconscious and later died. The FBI, with the support of President Trump, has opened an investigation into the death.
Harris, a former presidential contender and a possible vice presidential pick for Joe Biden, said that Floyd died “needlessly at the knee of someone who was using force that was unnecessary and was clearly not only in violation of the civil rights of that community and that man, but was, you know, torture in the way that it was done.”
“The man couldn’t breathe. He was begging. He was begging to be able to breathe, and he was executed. It was a public execution,” she added.
