Musicians around the world were quick to react to the horrific death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who passed away on Monday evening (May 25th) in Minneapolis.
Following an arrest for alleged fraud, Floyd was captured on video being knelt on by a white police officer named Derek Chauvin for over seven minutes despite screaming that he couldn't breathe. Despite onlookers protesting the policeman’s behavior and urging him to stop, Floyd lost consciousness, and later died in custody.
Chauvin — who had 18 previous complaints lodged against him — was fired on Tuesday (May 26th), along with three other officers.
Now artists such as Billie Joe Armstrong, Panic! At The Disco, Yungblud and many more are speaking out against what appears to be another brutal miscarriage of justice.
Armstrong posted an image of Malcolm X with one of the slain black leader's expressions, which read, “That's not a chip on my shoulder. That's your foot on my neck.”
Yungblud posted a “Justice for George Floyd” petition with the message, “sign this not jus for the future but for right now.”
Rapper, rock artist and actor Ice T wrote, “When these things happen you get to see how people REALLY feel… I’ve been speaking out on Police Brutality for over 30yrs… And I’ve heard EVERY excuse.”
Sharon Osbourne wrote, “Humanity was absent…let's not close our eyes and be complicit.”
At press time, protests had spread to several cities around the country, with demonstrations in Minneapolis giving way to rioting and fires.
