I’m emotionally exhausted. Since my last post, the rioting and protests over the murder of George Floyd have been getting progressively worse, and now we’re getting reports that part of the most aggressive rioters are white supremacists that are trying to make the peaceful protesters look bad, all the while having their own sick version of Krystalnacht, destroying the communities and businesses that are the cornerstones of their respective communities. It makes me sick.
I also have about 800 words to get in to close out my month. I’m going to close out May with some sad reposts.
Obituaries.
From https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/amberjamieson/george-floyd-obituary
Friends Say George Floyd Always Went Out Of His Way To Help People Who Were Less Fortunate
“He was articulate. He was grounded. He was spiritual. He was an athlete. He was an organizer. He was a comforter. He was an encourager.”Amber JamiesonBuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on May 27, 2020, at 6:13 p.m. ET
“One day it’s going to be you and God. You’re going up or you’re going down,” George Floyd says in a video circulating on social media in which he calls on young people to avoid gun violence.
Floyd, 46, died in police custody on Monday after a white police officer pushed his knee into his neck on the ground outside a supermarket in Minneapolis. Video footage showed Floyd saying “I can’t breathe” until he became unresponsive, but even then the officer continued to keep him in a neck hold.
Floyd’s family did not immediately respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment, but they, along with friends, have been sharing stories of his life online and with the media.
Floyd, also known as Big Floyd, reinvented himself over and over again. In the 1990s, he was part of a rap crew from Houston’s Third Ward, working with DJ Screw, a well-known local musician.
“Floyd was my brother. We called each other ‘Twin,’” former NBA player Stephen Jackson said in a video posted to Instagram on Tuesday. Jackson, who grew up with Floyd in the Third Ward, shared photos of him in his high school football uniform.
“Made it to state championship,” Jackson wrote. “Bruh wasn’t no bum. Had hoop game too.”
The mother of his 6-year-old daughter told the Houston Chronicle that he’d received a football scholarship to Florida State University after playing for Yates High School.
In recent years, Floyd moved to Minnesota.
“He was changing his life,” Jackson said in the Instagram video. “He went to Minnesota. He was driving trucks. I just sent him up two or three boxes of clothes. My boy was doing what he was supposed to do.”
Vanita Williams, a friend, met Floyd through his work driving trucks and as a security guard at a downtown Salvation Army homeless shelter.
“He was sober. He showed me resources,” Williams said. “He gave us hugs and told us it was going to be OK. He told us we could make it. He was such a big brother to me.”
Williams said Floyd embraced people of all backgrounds, including trans people, sex workers, people experiencing homelessness, and people with addictions.
“He gravitated towards the less fortunate,” Williams said, “the downtrodden, the ones they said wasn’t going to make it.”
She said Floyd would give people a few dollars, new clothes, or whatever small thing he could.
“Whatever he needed to do, he would help you,” she said.
He also worked as a security guard at Conga Latin Bistro in Minneapolis.
“This person was my employee, and a very good friend,” Jovanni Thunstrom wrote on Facebook. Thunstrom also told local station KSTP that Floyd would drive patrons who were drunk home to make sure they were safe.
“He wanted me to teach him how to Bachata dance,” Thunstrom said. “And I gave up because I couldn’t turn him because he was [6 feet 6 inches].”
His former girlfriend Christina Dawson shared photos of Floyd smiling, wearing his security T-shirt, and cuddling a dog.
“They really killed my baby!!” she posted. “THAT KING DID NOT HAVE TO DIE BEFORE HIS TIME.”
Floyd was popular with women because of his charm and height, Williams said.
“There’s going to be so many women going to come out of the woodwork when they hear,” she added. “He was a big teddy bear.”
She added, “You could talk to a thousand people and nobody is going to have anything bad to say about him.”
His brothers and cousin also spoke to CNN’s Don Lemon about their search for justice after the four officers involved were fired.
“It definitely warms my heart to see we have so many people willing to support and to protest and to give him a voice,” said his cousin Tera Brown, “and keep this going because he was a very loving person. And he didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
His friends agreed.
“He was articulate. He was grounded. He was spiritual. He was an athlete. He was an organizer. He was a comforter. He was an encourager,” Williams told BuzzFeed News. “I could just go on and on and on about who he was.”
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From https://www.cbjohnsonreidfs.com/obituary/Ahmaud-Arbery
Ahmaud Marquez Arbery
May 8, 1994 ~ February 23, 2020 (age 25)
Mr. Ahmaud “Quez” Arbery of Brunswick, GA. passed on Sunday February 23, 2020. Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday February 29, 2020 12:00 p.m. at New Springfield Baptist Church 1996 Hatcher Mill Rd. Waynesboro, GA 30830. with Rev. Barrett A. Madison officiating. Interment church cemetery. Visitation will be held on Friday February 28, 2020 from 3:00 p.m.- 7:00 p.m. Chavous B. Johnson & Reid Funeral Service 885 Waters Street Waynesboro, GA. 30830 (706)554-7843. Ahmaud Marquez Arbery, “Quez”, was born on May 8, 1994, in Brunswick Georgia. He was a loving son, brother, uncle, nephew, cousin, and friend. He was humble, kind and well mannered. He always made sure he never departed from his loved ones without an “I Love You”. He had a smile that would light up a room. He loved to tell jokes, to elicit laughter and had a beautiful personality. He enjoyed downtime with his family and friends. He loved sports; basketball and football were his top choices. He was quite the athlete and chose to wear the football jersey #21, which was passed down from his older brother, Marcus, Jr. Ahmaud was among the graduating class of 2012 at Brunswick High School. He later attended South Georgia Technical College in Americus, Georgia. He is survived by: his mother, Wanda Cooper Jones; father, Marcus Arbery, Sr.; one brother, Marcus Arbery Jr. of Brunswick, Georgia; one sister, Jasmine Arbery of Albany Georgia; two loving nephews, Marcus, III and Micah Arbery; one godsister, Seneiyah Brown; grandmother, Ella Cooper; ten aunts, Bertha Waymer, Nellie Bea Eldridge, Bessie Dix (Paul), Linda Ellison (Keith), Debbie Dixon, Kimberly Cummings, Ruby Preston, Diane Jackson (Ulysses), Evon (Henry) Lakes, and Theawanza Brooks; six uncles, Jerome Holmes (Regina), Inus Holmes, Terry Holmes, Micquell Cooper, Gary Arbery (Carla) and William Arbery (Marva); and a host of cousins and friends
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From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Breonna_Taylor
Breonna Taylor
Louisville, Kentucky
Jun 5, 1993 – Mar 13, 2020 (Age 26)
On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African American woman, was fatally shot by Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) officers. Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankison, and Detective Myles Cosgrove entered her apartment in plainclothes in Louisville, Kentucky, while serving a “no-knock warrant“.[1][2][3] Another police officer and an LMPD lieutenant were on the scene when the warrant was executed.[4] Gunfire was exchanged between Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, and the three LMPD officers who entered the apartment. Taylor was shot eight times,[5] and Mattingly was injured by gunfire.[6]
The investigation by the LMPD was centered on two individuals who were already in police custody[7] and suspected of selling controlled substances from a drug house more than 10 miles (16 km) away.[8] One of the individuals in custody, Jamarcus Glover, had a prior relationship with Taylor.[9] The search warrant included Breonna Taylor’s residence, which had been suspected of receiving drugs in the case,[8] and because a car registered to Taylor had been seen parked on several occasions in front of Glover’s house.[10]
According to police, Walker fired first, injuring a law enforcement officer, and police returned fire. According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the police by Taylor’s family, the officers entered the home without knocking or announcing that they were police officers, and “then proceeded to spray gunfire into the residence with a total disregard for the value of human life.”[2][11]
Persons involved[edit]
- Breonna Taylor (June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020) was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her parents were Tamika Palmer and Troy Herrod. She graduated from Western High School and went on to study at the University of Kentucky. She was an emergency medical technician[12] and worked at two hospitals, University of Louisville Jewish Hospital and Norton Healthcare. At the time of her death, she was working for University of Louisville Health.[12][13][14] She was buried in Spring Valley, Illinois[13]
- Kenneth Walker was Taylor’s boyfriend, who lived with her in the apartment.
- Jonathan Mattingly is an LMPD police sergeant who joined department in 2000.[6]
- Brett Hankison is an LMPD plain clothes detective.[6]
- Myles Cosgrove is an LMPD plain clothes detective.[6]
Investigations and legal proceedings[edit]
Walker initially faced criminal charges of first-degree assault and attempted murder of a police officer.[2][15] An LMPD statement alleged that the officers announced themselves before entering the home, and were immediately met with gunfire from Walker.[16] According to that statement Walker allegedly discharged his firearm first, injuring a law enforcement officer. Walker’s lawyer stated that Walker thought that someone was entering the residence illegally, and that Walker acted only in self-defense. The 911 calls were later released to the public, with Walker recorded telling the 911 operator, “somebody kicked in the door and shot my girlfriend”.[16] Walker was later released from jail due to coronavirus concerns, which drew criticism from Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad.[17] In late May, Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine moved to dismiss all charges against Walker. The case could be presented to a grand jury again after reviewing the results of investigations by the FBI and Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. Wine dropped the charges because the officers never mentioned Breonna Taylor by name to the grand jury or the fact that they shot her. Walker’s close friends said that his job was to protect Taylor at any cost.[18][19] On May 22, Judge Olu Stevens released Walker from home incarceration. Rob Eggert, an attorney representing Walker, released a statement saying, “he just wanted to resume his life”. At the same time, his attorney said that he could be charged again later as more facts come out of the shooting.[20]
On May 15, 2020, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Taylor’s family. The lawsuit stated that Taylor and Walker were sleeping in their bedroom before the incident happened, and that the police officers were in unmarked vehicles. None of the officers were wearing body cameras, as all three were plainclothes narcotics officers.[21] Taylor and Walker thought their home had been broken into by criminals and that “they were in significant, imminent danger.” The lawsuit alleges that “the officers then entered Breonna’s home without knocking and without announcing themselves as police officers. The Defendants then proceeded to spray gunfire into the residence with a total disregard for the value of human life.”[2][11]
On May 28, Louisville office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced it had opened an investigation.[21] Robert Brown, special agent in charge for the office, said “The FBI will collect all available facts and evidence and will ensure that the investigation is conducted in a fair, thorough and impartial manner.”[21]
Aftermath[edit]
On May 21, after intense local and national criticism for the department’s handling of the case, Police Chief Steve Conrad announced his retirement to be effective on June 30.[22] The LMPD has also announced that it will require all sworn officers to wear body cameras and will change how it carries out search warrants.[21]
On May 14, photos were released to the public in The Courier-Journal by Sam Aguiar, an attorney representing Breonna Taylor’s family. The photos show bullet damage in their apartment and the apartment next door.[23]
On May 26, multiple protesters, including friends and family of Taylor, surrounded the office of Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer, demanding the three officers be arrested and charged with murder. Another protest is planned for May 30.[24]
For weeks after Taylor’s death, there was very little public reaction or response from government officials.[25] The LMPD has not provided many details about the shooting or answers to questions about the case.[26] Taylor’s death gained national attention when activist Shaun King posted about her shooting death on social media.[26] On May 13, 2020, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear responded to reports about Taylor’s death and said the public deserved to know everything about the March raid. Beshear requested that the Kentucky Attorney General, Daniel Cameron, and local and federal prosecutor to review the findings of the Louisville police’s initial investigation “to ensure justice is done at a time when many are concerned that justice is not blind.”[27] On May 14, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and Louisville Metro Police Department Chief Steve Conrad announced they have asked the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Attorney to review the local findings of the Public Integrity Unit’s investigation when it is completed.[28]
On May 27, 2020, the LMPD said it had received multiple death threats like “All cops need to die” and “kill pigs”. On May 20, officers were responding to a 911 call near Taylor’s apartment and multiple people threw pieces of concrete at them and then ran away. No law enforcement officers were injured.[29] On May 28, around 500 to 600 demonstrators marched in Downtown Louisville, where people chanted “No justice, no peace, prosecute police!” and “Breonna, Breonna, Breonna!”[30][31] The protests continued into the early morning of May 29, when seven people were shot; one of the victims was in critical condition. At the same time, Taylor’s sister, Juniyah Palmer, posted a response to the protests on her Facebook page saying “At this point y’all are no longer doing this for my sister! You guys are just vandalizing stuff for NO reason, I had a friend ask people why they are there most didn’t even know the “protest” was for my sister.”[32][33]
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Our cities have protests, riots, looters, and curfews. More innocent people will die. We are hurting. There is evidence of ties of certain law enforcement officers to white nationalist/supremacist organizations. There is evidence that racist groups are infiltrating peaceful groups and instigating hate.
And yes, there are some assholes that just want to loot and see the world burn.
It’s a rough time, gang. Remember this though – it’s not up to the victims of racism to do a damned thing. It’s up to the racists to change. You’re going to read about folks saying, “Why didn’t they do this?” or “Why didn’t they do that?”. That’s all a smokescreen. The racists are going to point to the protestors and say “They need to change!”, but in reality, the racists will point to anything they perceive as a slight as a justification for their racism.
And the cycle will continue as long as people can justify their hate.
Don’t get caught in that cycle. It’s toxic.
I hope the world it treating you better than you deserve.
Peace y’all.
