Al Sharpton Leads Calls For Conviction Ahead Of Murder Trial In Death Of George Floyd

Al Sharpton called for the conviction of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer on trial for allegedly killing George Floyd, on Sunday night.

Sharpton hosted a prayer vigil on the eve of Chauvin’s trial where Sharpton and members of Floyd’s family called for Chauvin to face justice. The former police officer faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death.

“We must show with this case that a police officer must face the law just like anybody else,” Sharpton said, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

Floyd’s brother, Philonise, joined Sharpton in calling on the jury to find Chauvin guilty.

“My brother didn’t ask for this,” he said at a news conference before the vigil. “I didn’t ask to be a part of this fraternity that nobody wants to be a part of. I think about my brother every day and every night. I think about his kids.”

“I have faith that he will get convicted. Just like everybody who’s seen that video because the video is the proof,” he added.

For decades, Sharpton has used his platform as a civil rights leader to fuel controversy and provoke racial animus. The activist often uses controversial events, such as Floyd’s death, to back up his claims of black oppression in the U.S. In the 1990s, Sharpton used a traffic accident in which a Jewish driver struck and killed a black 7-year-old to stir up black anger against New York Jews.

Floyd died in May of last year while he was being arrested for passing counterfeit money at a convenience store. Video of the arrest shows Floyd pushing back against a group of police officers trying to get him into a police vehicle before falling on the ground. The video then shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for roughly nine minutes.

The Hennepin County medical examiner reported after Floyd’s autopsy that he had ingested potentially lethal amounts of drugs, a mixture of fentanyl and methamphetamines, prior to his arrest. As The Daily Wire reported in August:

New court documents have uncovered two memorandums, dated May 26 and June 1, that suggest Chief Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker concluded George Floyd likely died from a fentanyl overdose and found “no physical evidence suggesting” that he died of asphyxiation.

“AB (Andrew Baker) said that if Mr. Floyd had been found dead in his home (or anywhere else) and there were no other contributing factors he would conclude that it was an overdose death,” says a memo dated June 1, outlining a May 31 virtual with Dr. Baker.

The memos seemingly run contrary to the Armed Forces medical examiner and Hennepin County medical examiner’s final conclusion that Floyd’s death was a homicide.

“His death was caused by the police subdual and restraint in the setting of severe hypertensive atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, and methamphetamine and fentanyl intoxication,” the Armed Forces medical examiner found, according to FOX 9.

Related: The Charges Facing Derek Chauvin, And What It Will Take To Convict Him

*As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases