The bereaved brother of George Floyd said President Trump didn’t let him get a word in during a condolence call.
Philonise Floyd, the brother of the 46-year-old black man who died in the custody of Minneapolis police on Monday after an officer knelt on his neck for several minutes cutting off his air supply, said the president ‘kept pushing me off.’
‘It was so fast, he didn’t even give me the opportunity to speak,’ Floyd told MSNBC host Al Sharpton on Saturday.
‘It was hard. I was trying to talk to him, but he kept pushing me off like “I don’t want to hear what you’re talking about.’
George Floyd’s death on Monday has sparked nationwide protests as well as riots that have included violent clashes with police, widespread looting, and arson in several major cities across the country.
President Trump (left) on Friday spoke to the family of George Floyd, the 46-year-old black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on Monday. Floyd’s brother, Philonise (right), said the president ‘didn’t even give me the opportunity to speak’ during the conversation
Philonise Floyd said that he had a simple message for the president.
‘I just told him: “I want justice”.’
He said: ‘I said that I couldn’t believe that they committed a modern-day lynching in broad daylight.
‘I can’t stand for that. I can’t.’
Floyd’s death has touched off nationwide outrage as protesters and demonstrators staged riots in major American cities. The above image from Saturday shows police officers in riot gear in downtown Miami
Philonise Floyd then broke down in tears while talking about his brother.
‘It hurt me,’ he said of his brother’s death.
A fatal shooting and lawsuit for excessive force: What we know about the four officers fired for George Floyd’s arrest
Derek Chauvin
In 2006 Derek Chauvin (pictured), 44, was one of six officers connected to the death of Wayne Reyes
The white police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck has already been investigated over three police shootings and a fatal car chase.
In 2006 Derek Chauvin, 44, was one of six officers connected to the death of Wayne Reyes.
Reyes, 42 was killed by officers after allegedly pulling a shotgun on the six cops, which included Chauvin.
Also that year he was named in a lawsuit filed by an inmate at the Minnesota Correctional Facility. The case was dismissed in 2007.
Two years later Chauvin was investigated for his role in the 2008 shooting of Ira Latrell Toles during a domestic assault call.
Toles was wounded after police said he went for an officer’s gun and Chauvin shot him.
That same year Chauvin was handed a medal of valor for ‘his response in an incident involving a man armed with a gun.’
But in 2011 23-year-old Leroy Martinez was shot and injured during a chase given by officers including Chauvin.
Chauvin was arrested Friday – four days after Floyd’s death – and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter.
Tou Thao
Tou Thao (pictured), was part of a $25,000 out of court settlement after being sued for using excessive force in 2017
Tou Thao, was part of a $25,000 out of court settlement after being sued for using excessive force in 2017.
A lawsuit obtained by the DailyMail.com shows Thao was sued for using excessive force in arrest where he was accused of punching and kicking a handcuffed suspect ‘until his teeth broke’.
The remaining two officers have been identified as Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng.
Both were reportedly rookie cops who were still in their probationary periods.
Thao, Lane and Kueng do not currently face charges.
‘I just don’t understand, man.
‘Why we gotta go through this? Why we gotta go through this pain, man?
‘I love my brother. I’m never going to see him again.’
DailyMail.com has sought comment from the White House.
During a news conference at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Saturday, the president said he expressed sympathy to the Floyd family.
‘Yesterday, I spoke to George’s family and expressed the sorrow of our entire nation for their loss,’ Trump said.
‘I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace, and I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, and menace.
‘Healing not hatred, justice not chaos are the mission at hand.’
The president has been criticized for several tweets that seemed to vow a harsh crackdown against protesters, including one in which he referred to rioters and demonstrators as ‘thugs’ and warning that ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts.’
On Saturday, however, the president tried to strike a different note.
‘I understand the pain that people are feeling,’ Trump said.
‘We support the right of peaceful protests and we hear their pleas, but what we are now seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with the memory of George Floyd.
‘The violence and vandalism is being led by Antifa and other radical left-wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses and burning down buildings.
‘The main victims of this horrible, horrible situation are the citizens who live in these once-lovely communities… The mobs are devastating the life’s work of good people and destroying their dreams.
‘We support the overwhelming majority of police officers who are incredible in every way and devoted to public service.’
Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who was filmed pressing his knee against George Floyd’s neck while he struggled to breathe and was handcuffed, has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
During his interview on MSNBC, Philonise Floyd was angry that authorities in Minnesota have yet to charge the other three police officers involved in his brother’s death.
The family is also seeking more serious charges against Chauvin, who ignored Floyd’s desperate pleas while he was suffocating.
Those three officers – Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao – have all been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department.
‘They all need to be convicted of first-degree murder, and given the death penalty because they didn’t care about what they wanted to do with my brother,’ Philonise Floyd told MSNBC.
‘[George Floyd] wasn’t a person to them, he was scum. He was nothing.
‘I can imagine how many people they did like that. I don’t need them on the streets to kill anybody else.
‘I’m hurt, my family is hurt. His kids are hurt.
‘They will grow up without a father.’
Philonise Floyd added: ‘Everybody is crying and in pain right now. So if they could do anything please arrest those other officers.’
Sharpton said he will travel to Minneapolis to deliver the eulogy at George Floyd’s funeral, though the MSNBC host misspoke.
Floyd’s funeral will be held in his hometown of Houston, Texas, according to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. A date and time have yet to be scheduled.
White cop charged with murdering George Floyd is on ‘suicide watch’ and being checked around the clock
Chauvin, the white police officer arrested and charged with the murder of George Floyd, is allegedly on effective suicide watch and being checked in on around the clock.
TMZ reported Saturday that Chauvin, 44, has a camera focused on him all day and and cops check on his cell in person every 15 minutes.
It adds that Chauvin, who was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter on Friday, is under constant surveillance and is in isolation in Ramsey County Jail in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Former cop Derek Chauvin, who was arrested for the murder of George Floyd on Friday, is reported to be on suicide watch in his single cell in Ramsey County Jail and under constant surveillance
George Floyd’s (pictured) heartbroken family have called white cop Derek Chauvin to be charged with a more serious crime than third-degree murder after their lawyer revealed that Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for a staggering eight minutes during the arrest for forgery
He remains in a single cell in a part of the facility set aside for high-profile cases.
TMZ adds that a source says that the former police officer didn’t make eye contact with anyone when he was brought into the jail on Friday and that he was subject to an unclothed body search.
He was then placed in a prison uniform and led to his cell.
Checks on a cell every 15 minutes are said to be common in such a high-profile case, TMZ’s source said, but it is not confirmed if there is a threat to Chauvin’s life.
Chauvin is reported to have 23 hours in his cell a day with one hour for recreation. He also has access to books, pencils and paper.
Footage emerged Monday of white cop Chauvin kneeling on the neck of black man Floyd for more than eight minutes until he passed out and later died, sparking outrage over police brutality and seeing protests escalate across the nation.
Chauvin was taken into custody on Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. His bail was set for $500,000.
The Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center and adjoining adult detention center where disgraced former cop Derek Chauvin is being held for the murder of George Floyd
The arrest followed days of nationwide protests and riots demanding his arrest, after he was caught on video kneeling on Floyd’s neck while arresting him for allegedly trying to use a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli.
According to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer was said to have had his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, with nearly three minutes of the time being after Floyd had become non-responsive.
Floyd was then taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
On Thursday evening it was revealed Floyd had actually worked with Chauvin as security guards at the El Nuevo Rodeo club, the club owner confirmed.
‘Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open,’ Maya Santamaria told KSTP-TV.
Three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest remain uncharged but were also fired from their jobs Tuesday.
Protesters and Floyd’s family continue to call for the arrests of former officers J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao and for a more serious charge to be brought against Chauvin.
‘We call on authorities to revise the charges [against Chauvin] to reflect the culpability of this officer,’ a statement from the family Friday said.
‘We fully expect to see the other officers who did nothing to protect the life of George Floyd to be arrested and charged soon.’
The criminal complaint filed against Chauvin Friday also cited the preliminary findings from a Tuesday autopsy conducted by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner which saw ‘no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxiation or strangulation’.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on Memorial Day as he was arrested by four police officers over allegedly trying to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. He was seen in a video pleading that he couldn’t breathe as white officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck
‘Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease,’ said the complaint from the Hennepin County Attorney.
‘The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.’
The full medical examiner’s report is pending but Floyd’s family have hired the services of former New York medical officer Dr. Michael Baden to perform a second independent autopsy.
They are unhappy with the findings from the county medical examiner that they claim create an ‘illusion’ of underlying health conditions being responsible for his death.