– I want justice – VG

– I want justice, says George Floyd’s little brother, Terrence Floyd, inside the little church office in Brooklyn, New York.

He keeps his winter jacket on, despite it being one of the first days of spring in New York. He wanders his eyes and speaks calmly.

– The police must be held accountable for what they did.

– They must serve their sentence, he says.

This week began the selection process of the jury that will decide the fate of Police Officer Derek Chauvin.

He is charged with the premeditated murder of George Floyd, 46.

On Friday night Norwegian time, it emerged that the Floyd family had reached an agreement with the Minneapolis authorities. And he receives compensation of $ 27 million, or about NOK 227 million. The lawsuit against Minneapolis is separate from the criminal case against Chauvin.

The interview with Brother Terrence took place before the settlement became known.

“I can’t breathe”

The date is May 25, 2020, and Floyd is in Minneapolis to get his life back on track, his brother says.

He and two friends have just stopped the car in front of a store, and Floyd walks in to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Here he allegedly tried to pay with a fake $ 20 bill.

The store employees call the police. Soon after, passersby picking up the moving cameras hear the following words:

“I can’t breathe”

“I can’t breathe.”

Declared dead

More than 20 times George Floyd repeats these words while police officer Derek Chauvin holds his knee to his neck. (on the back of the image shown above).

“Stop talking and yelling, it takes a lot of oxygen to talk”, Chauvin responds when Floyd says he feels like he’s being killed.

Sit like this for seven minutes and 46 seconds.

With his knee on Floyd’s neck.

17 minutes after the first police car arrives, Floyd lies unconscious on the ground.

Floyd is pronounced dead shortly after.

Demonstrations

Gruesome video clips of police violence spread at record speed, and what was the end of George Floyd’s life began with a powerful movement that dominated the US news landscape throughout 2020.

The movement received international attention and created tremendous engagement, also in Norway.

The seas: Report: The vast majority of BLM demonstrations have been peaceful

The movement is called “Black Lives Matter” (BLM) and became well known after the murder of Michael Brown Jr., 18, in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014.

– What happened was so serious, and everyone saw what happened. The vast majority see that this was a cruel act. Often times, in such cases, it’s word for word, but here you saw clearly and clearly what happened, says Terrence calmly.

See a selection of VG photographer’s photos from BLM demos in the US through 2020:

He became a political activist

The father of three children lost his older brother in public, and he and his family had to mourn the loss in front of television cameras. He had his life turned upside down.

Terrence says he’s actually a quiet guy who likes routines. He goes to work as a bus driver in New York at dawn and returns home with his children in the afternoon. Dinner and maybe drumming in a band with friends in the evening.

Now he has suddenly become a “political activist,” as he calls it, and fights for the piercer’s justice while working against structural racism and police violence against blacks.

– It’s fantastic

Your son will soon turn 18 and you have had to “talk” to him.

By “talk,” Terrence refers to the conversation parents like to have with their black teenage children.

-I’ve told you how to deal with the police, if you end up in situations where you have to talk to them, he says.

When VG tells him that the murder of his older brother has also created a huge stake in Norway, he is clearly affected.

– It’s fantastic. And that’s what my niece said “My father is going to change the world”she says and stops before reaching her face and trying to hide her tears.

11 times

“I can’t breathe” It was also Eric Garner’s last word when in 2014 he was subjected to police brutality by the NYPD in connection with an arrest.

The autopsy report concluded that the police killed him by pressing on his neck and chest.

– George Floyd said he couldn’t breathe. My son too. He said it 11 times.

The words come from Eric’s mother, Gwen Carr. She has defended the Floyd family in recent months, and together they now fight for the conviction of the cop charged with Floyd’s murder.

“We want a justice system that is fair to everyone, and not just everyone,” he said at a news conference this week, noting how Minneapolis police officers were stripped of their jobs and charged, while in the case of his son, there was only one police officer lost his job. It happened five years after the death of his son.

Police reform

Floyd’s assassination has led Congress to consider proposals for major police reform these days. Named after George Floyd, it was adopted Wednesday last week in the House of Representatives by a narrow majority and referred to the Senate.

If the reform is approved, the death grip on the neck of the one who died Floyd will be prohibited. The police will also not be able to arrest people because of the color of their skin.

– This is an important step in the right direction. I have high hopes that this will take place, says Terrence before continuing:

– His death has changed a lot, and I see that the commitment continues, he says.

And the commitment of the BLM movement has something to say. It shows a recent research report from the University of Massachusetts. Over the course of five years, in places where there have been BLM protests, the number of police killings has dropped by 15 to 20 percent.

Judgment

Pastor and civil rights activist Kevin McCall has supported the Floyd family since the murder. He holds press conferences and has become one of the family’s closest supporters. He believes that Floyd’s death can be seen as a watershed moment in American history.

– Generations after us will see this and see that it changed the United States. He was the face that changed the American system, he says and says that he and Terrence travel to Minneapolis in connection with the trial in late March.

The trial of the other three police officers accused of complicity is expected to begin in August.

In the church office, Terrence is still sitting perfectly still in his chair. But when VG asks him what he thinks will happen if there is no conviction in the case, he carefully squirms a bit and takes a long break:

– I have a feeling of what is going to happen. But I don’t want to say anything about it. My words go far.