Like many of her fellow celebrities, pop icon Madonna has responded publicly to the tragic death of George Floyd, the 46-year-old African American man who died on Monday while being forcefully subdued by Minneapolis police and whose death has sparked widespread outrage and violent riots throughout the city.
In a social media post, Madonna responded to the tragedy by declaring “f*** the police!” and calling for extreme gun control.
“Watching this Cop suffocate George Floyd with his knee on his neck, handcuffed and helpless, crying for his life with his face in the street is the most sickening, heartbreaking thing I’ve seen in a long time,” Madonna wrote in an Instagram post Wednesday.
“This Officer knew he was being filmed and murdered him with arrogance and pride,” she continued. “This has to stop!!”
The performer then turned the tragedy into a push for radical gun control. “Until we can overcome Racism in America— no one should be allowed to carry a gun. Most of all cops,” she declared.
“God Bless you George Floyd,” she wrote. “I’m so sorry for you and your family. And all the senseless killings that have gone before you. Will it ever end? I pray to GOD it does one day.”
“Until then—F*** The Police!” the iconic performer concluded. “Yea I said it. I’m not interested in being PC. I’m interested in Justice.”
Among the hashtags she included in the post was “#guncontrol.”
Other celebrities have likewise voiced their condemnation of the incident, and many have given similarly radical responses, among them former NFL player Colin Kaepernick and rapper Cardi B.
Kaepernick, who famously concluded his NFL career refusing to stand for the national anthem in protest of systemic racism and police violence and has since devoted himself to social justice activism, defended and even promoted the rioting that has left sections of Minneapolis in flames.
“When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction,” Kaepernick tweeted Thursday. “The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance. We have the right to fight back! Rest in Power George Floyd.”
When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction.
The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your violence has brought this resistance.
We have the right to fight back!
Rest in Power George Floyd
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) May 28, 2020
Cardi B posted a similar response.
“They looting in Minnesota and as much as I don’t like this type of violence it is what it is,” she tweeted Thursday. “Too much peaceful marches, too much trending hashtags and NO SOLUTIONS! The people are left with NO CHOICE.”
They looting in Minnesota and as much as I don’t like this type of violence it is what it is .Too much peaceful marches,too much trending hashtags and NO SOLUTIONS! The people are left with NO CHOICE . pic.twitter.com/IToSr08yBG
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) May 28, 2020
While some have defended the violence that has erupted in response to Floyd’s death, others are pleading with rioters to embrace peaceful protest, including Minneapolis Council Vice President Andrea Jenkins.
During a press conference Thursday, Jenkins told protesters that while they have “every absolute right to be angry,” they have “no right to perpetrate violence and harm,” particularly “on the very communities that you say that you are standing up for.”
“We need peace and calm in our streets, and I am begging you for that calm,” said Jenkins.
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