The View Hosts Condemn the Death of George Floyd: Officers ‘Should 100% Be on Trial for Murder’
The hosts of The View were shocked and disturbed by the racist incidents that occurred over Memorial Day weekend, noting that the Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd— a black man– “should be on trial for murder.”
Whoopi Goldberg aired a clip of what she termed “vicious” police brutality — footage which showed a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck until he died, and questioned why such incidents continue to occur in the U.S.
“We keep seeing this, so what are we missing as Americans and human beings?” Goldberg asked. “Now this officer had been on the force for 19 years. He’s been involved in three other police shootings, a series of complaints have been filed about him, but it didn’t result in discipline, and I don’t understand how this continues to happen.”
Joy Behar agreed and noted that the officer did not stop despite the fact that he was wearing a body cam and had multiple witnesses filming the scene.
“He had his knee on his neck for nine minutes, so what I saw on that tape was a murder. A murder of an unarmed black man,” added Sunny Hostin. “And it’s just an example of the double standard that we see in policing and that we see really across this country.”
The host then revealed Floyd was stopped for an alleged forgery, adding that incidents like this one explain why black Americans will not back Amy Klobuchar as Joe Biden’s vice-presidential pick, for “she declined to prosecute over two dozen cases involving police killings of unarmed people.”
Meghan McCain questioned how this could happen to a man who was complying with the police, adding that the full video graphically showed Floyd’s body going limp after he explained he couldn’t breathe and even asked the police officer for water.
“These police officers should 100 percent be on trial for murder,” she added. “They’re clearly already on trial in the court of public opinion, but I don’t know how much more communities across the board — not just African American communities — but Americans in general can withstand this.”
The hosts then discussed the racially charged viral video of a white woman, Amy Cooper, calling the police on a black man, Christian Cooper, to falsely claim he was threatening her life.
Hostin expressed her fear and shock that a black man who was simply following the rules could be put in such a dangerous situation.
“What was shocking to me is she literally weaponized his race and weaponized her privilege,” she noted. “She knew that by calling the police, it would be to her advantage, and as the mother of a black son, she tried to make happen what is my very worst nightmare.”
The hosts noted that this happened to a Harvard educated bird-watcher in New York City and reminded viewers that this can happen to any black man in any state — red or blue.
Watch above, via ABC.
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