San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman took to Twitter on Sunday to address the death of George Floyd on Monday in Minneapolis.
Sherman lamented having to speak about the death of another unarmed Black American, also stating “Basic fairness and justice is all that has been asked for and it has not been given.”
Minneapolis Police responded to a call of forgery, arriving at the scene and handcuffing Floyd. Despite Floyd already being handcuffed, one of the responding officers knelt on Floyd's neck for nine minutes, ignoring Floyd's complaints of not being able to breathe. He died in police custody shortly thereafter.
Floyd's death has prompted a wave of social activism to push back against racial injustice in America. Protests have erupted in major cities all around the country, including San Francisco.
Mayor London Breed declared Sunday the city would continue to implement a curfew, given some protests have escalated in terms of violence between police forces and protestors in recent days. (via Tatiana Sanchez of the San Francisco Chronicle):
10:36 a.m. Breed says curfew to stay in place for now: Mayor London Breed said Sunday that the 8 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew in San Francisco will remain “until we see that the situation is under control.” She told a news briefing,“We will do what we need to do to protect the city so that people are safe.” She said that could include doing things that make people uncomfortable, such as bring in additional police.
Athletes are refusing to sit on the sidelines. Numerous professionals across a number of sports spoke out in the wake of Floyd's death. Some joined protests yesterday.
Sherman–like many others engaging in protest–wants to see real change.