George Floyd was killed on Memorial Day - May 25, 2020, exactly three weeks ago today. He was arrested on the allegation that he used a counterfeit $20 bill - he was beaten, forced to the ground, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until Floyd died.
This could have been just another police killing of a Black man - God knows America has seen this play out before. But this particular man’s death became the eye of the perfect storm. First of all, it was recorded by a bystander - for better or worse, the whole world saw George Floyd call out to his Mama one last time before he suffocated to death, pressed against the pavement under Chauvin’s knee.