A video of American rapper Killer Mike giving a tearful speech to Atlanta protesters after the death of George Floyd has gone viral.
On Monday (25 May), Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis after a white officer knelt on his neck during an arrest.
In footage of the incident, Floyd can be heard pleading for his life, saying: “I can’t breathe.”
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Protests have been raging across American cities in recent days following his death. In Atlanta, members of the public set a police car on fire, smashed windows at the CNN building, and damaged several other buildings and businesses.
At a news conference in Atlanta on Friday night (29 May), Killer Mike wept as he told protesters: “I am the son of an Atlanta police officer… I watched a white police officer assassinate a black man. And I know that tore your heart out.”
Pleading with protesters not to destroy the city and to channel their anger into making political change, he added: “I woke up wanting to see the world burn down yesterday because I am tired of seeing black men die. He casually put his knee on a human being’s neck for nine minutes as he died like a zebra in the clutch of a lion’s jaw…
“We don’t want to see Targets burning. We want to see the system that sets up for systemic racism burned to the ground.
“I am duty-bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy. It is your duty to fortify your own house in times of organisation…
“We have to be better than this moment. We have to be better than burning down our own homes, because if we lose Atlanta, what else we got?”
Derek Chauvin, the police officer who pinned Floyd down, has been arrested and charged with murder.
