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Former President Barack Obama issued a long statement about the current state of affairs across America. Comments on the heels of the tragic police-involved death of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the ensuing mass protests that followed:
46-year old truck driver George Floyd died while in Minneapolis police custody last week, after a now-ex police officer held his knee to Floyd’s neck for over 8 minutes, ultimately leading to him losing consciousness and dying. The police officer has been arrested and charged with 3rd degree manslaughter.
My statement on the death of George Floyd: pic.twitter.com/Hg1k9JHT6R
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) May 29, 2020
Also on Friday, former FLOTUS Michelle Obama took to Twitter to express her sadness and frustration over the recent killing of an unarmed black man.
The death came on the heels of two of killings of unarmed African Americans in Georgia and Kentucky.
Mrs. Obama tweeted a portrait of George Floyd “Like I’m pained by these recent tragedies.”
Like so many of you, I’m pained by these recent tragedies. And I’m exhausted by a heartbreak that never seems to stop. Right now it’s George, Breonna, and Ahmaud. Before that it was Eric, Sandra, and Michael. It just goes on, and on, and on. pic.twitter.com/lFWEtTzVT8
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) May 29, 2020
The former first lady continued:
“Race and racism is a reality that so many of us grow up learning to just deal with. But if we ever hope to move past it, it can’t just be on people of color to deal with it,” she said. “It’s up to all of us—Black, white, everyone—no matter how well-meaning we think we might be, to do the honest, uncomfortable work of rooting it out. It starts with self-examination and listening to those whose lives are different from our own.”
Barack Obama George Floyd Michelle Obama police brutality Twitter
