In response to the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was choked to death by a Minneapolis police officer, rapper Ice Cube wondered aloud on Twitter how long people will tolerate police killing black Americans until they “strike back.”
“How long will we go for Blue on Black Crime before we strike back???” Ice Cube tweeted.
“Anybody coming at me for what I said ain’t ready to do s**t…” he later added.
Ice Cube has been outspoken about police brutality for several decades. In 2015, he told Billboard that good cops need to end their “no-snitch policy” on bad cops.
“I think it’s the same. What we got to do is hold these dudes more accountable,” said Ice Cube. “We need body cameras on all these cops and we need it to be a federal offense if they tamper with those cameras, manipulate those cameras in any kind of way, or obstruct those cameras.”
“And we need these good cops to start snitching on these bad cops,” he added. “They talk s**t about our neighborhoods for having a no-snitch policy, but they have a no-snitch policy in their department, and that’s the problem. The good cops need to point out these bad cops, get them out of here, and get your dignity and respect back from the community.”
The horrific video that went viral on Tuesday reportedly showed Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee upon George Floyd’s neck for as long as seven minutes as the man cried out that he can’t breathe.
“My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. … (I need) water or something. Please. Please. I can’t breathe, officer. … I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe,” the man said.
Despite the protesting onlookers, Chauvin continued pressing on Floyd’s neck as three other police officers stood idly by. Those four officers have all been fired.
“The technique that was used is not permitted; is not a technique that our officers get trained in on,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said. “And our chief has been very clear on that piece. There is no reason to apply that kind of pressure with a knee to someone’s neck.”
The Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis said in a statement that the officers are now cooperating with an investigation while asking people to not rush to judgment.
“Now is not the time rush to (judgment) and immediately condemn our officers,” the statement said. “Officers’ actions and training protocol will be carefully examined after the officers have provided their statements.”
Ben Crump, the civil rights attorney representing Floyd’s family, said the officers used “inhumane use of force.”
“We all watched the horrific death of George Floyd on video as witnesses begged the police officer to take him into the police car and get off his neck,” said Crump. “This abusive, excessive, and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning about a non-violent charge.”
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