A peaceful popup rally brought out almost 100 Cook County citizens who came in solidarity and support for the family of George Floyd, who died from police brutality. Staff photo/Brian Larsen
Saddened and troubled by the death of George Floyd, more than 80 Cook County residents took part in a half-hour long rally held near Java Moose along Highway 61 last Friday, May 29.
It took only a couple of hours to get the word out that there would be a rally, said Denny Fitzpatrick, one of the event organizers.
Passing by on the highway, vehicles honked their horns in support of the peaceful sign carriers who were there to decry police brutality and show support for the George Floyd family.
Minneapolis resident George Floyd, 46, an African-American man, died while he was handcuffed and laying on his stomach, pleading for his life as Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes. Chauvin has been arrested and awaits trial on third-degree murder charges while his three fellow police officers who were on the scene have been fired and may also be charged in the murder.
The incident has spread to nationwide upheaval, leading to peaceful rallies like the one held in Grand Marais, and to riots, burning buildings, vehicles, looting and widespread destruction of communities (mostly) in the U.S.
As Floyd lay on the ground on his stomach, handcuffed and helpless, a police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd gasped, “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd was killed on May 25, 2020, after being arrested for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Did he even know the bill was counterfeit? Maybe no one will ever know the answer to that. Still, in the wake of his death and to the way in which he was killed, the country has been turned upside down, incinerated by anger at the unjust killing, moving beyond Floyd’s death to chaos and carnage that is still spreading one week later across the nation like a fire gone out of control.
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