So, Ron Johnson, Global Head of Consumer Products at Riot Games had a few words to say about the events that led to Goerge Floyd’s death, and well, I don’t know what to make of it! He isn’t technically wrong but at the same time, he missed the ball of what that event led to today! An why everyone is so angry and the police and chanting Black Lives Matter!
Here’s the post in question:
As you can see, Ron Johnson was trying to use George Floyd’s death as a teaching moment of sorts to show people that a life of crime never ends well! He also shared an image on Facebook (a bastion for old people out of touch) that highlighted George’s criminal past! As you can see, he hasn’t been the most upstanding citizen of America! Kotaku covered this and mentioned that Ron is now under investigation!
This is what I wanted to talk about! The media has clearly done its job in messing up the message of what George Floyd’s death was all about! In fact, it’s not that complicated to understand, and the fact that someone like Ron Johnson couldn’t comprehend it speaks volumes!
First of all George Floyd is not an icon, he is not a Black Leader of any sort. He is not Martyr nor is someone who can be considered a man with a clean record! This is a man who used a fake dollar bill (whether he knew this or not remains to be seen), had the police called on him, and was arrested. The videos showed that there was no major struggle on George’s part. He complied with the orders of the Police but for some reason, excessive force was used. The officer, while George was already been retrained by two or three other cops, then placed his knee on the man’s neck for eight minutes and he died because of it. It did not matter whether George had drugs in his system, he died because a man did not regard him as a human being and ignored signs of him losing consciousness! It was negligence and incompetence at the highest level.
It was undeniable Police Bruticallty which sparked the protest you see today! It can also be said that the officers’ behavior was racially motivated as that is a recurring theme with American police officers, however, I’m focusing on what cannot be denied!
George Floyd was just the unfortunate spike that broke the camels back from years of injustice & racism that has plagued the African American community in the states for decades, and when yet another black man died unnecessarily at the hands of a white police officer, it was the most gruesome and inhumane way possible! It was unbearable to watch! It was video recorded which helped spread the word of this, which if you looked at how it was recorded by the Minneapolis, their statement made by the police officer made it seem like George died unexpectedly or died from the drugs, further fanning the flames of outrage!
The world had had enough! George Floyd did not die because of his past, he died because that Police officer lacked proper procedure, training, and humanity! George Floyd is also NOT a hero, by any stretch of the imagination. Far from it! He was just the last person that made people had enough of the impunity the Police have had over that past years!
