MI police speak out against Minneapolis custody death of George Floyd

by: Dana Whyte

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Thursday night saw dozens of protest across the country in reaction to the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed African-American man who pleaded for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck.

On Tuesday, protest first broke out, on the day after Floyd’s death, and the cellphone video that caught it has spread widely on social media.

George Floyd can be seen in the video laying on the ground under the police officer’s knee. Minutes later, Floyd stops talking and moving and then later was pronounced dead.

Police said some of the nationwide protests remained peaceful, yet others turned violent, especially in Minneapolis, where the 3rd Precinct police station was set on fire. The police eventually were forced to evacuate the building. Some protesters brought signs and threw rocks, while police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Sheriff Richard Fuller III in Kalamazoo County reacted to Floyd’d death, saying, “I’m personally disgusted at the way George Floyd was treated, and I’m offended as a professional, like many of my brothers and sisters in law enforcement, of the actions of these officers. I wanted to reassure our community that this behavior and these actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated by our agency or our community.”

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