HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The African People’s Socialist Party held a demonstration at the Madison County Courthouse calling for justice in response to the killing of George Floyd.
Protesters gathered on the steps of the courthouse to spread word of the killing and encourage all people to come together and push for charges to be pressed against all four officers involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Demonstrators also made speeches about the importance of economic independence for African people, the impact systematic racism in law enforcement agencies across the country, and the need to mobilize to achieve justice for the Floyd family.
Dr. Aisha Fields says, while addressing media during the protest, "What sparked us is recognizing that this is a systematic issue. We can''t continue to look at it as 'incident by incident'. How many more incidents do we need to see this is a pattern? This is a system"
Similar demonstrations are being held around the country. The Department of Justice is now investigating the killing.
Here's an excerpt from the press release sent by the African People’s Socialist Party prior to the demonstration:
"We, the African People’s Socialist Party, led by Chairman Omali Yeshitela, denounce yet another brutal police murder of an African man, George Floyd in Minneapolis.
In response our Party is holding an international mobilization in support of African people to resist the colonial State and to fight for power over our lives. This [week's] footage was released of the vicious murder of 46-year-old Floyd. A Minneapolis cop, Derek Chauvin, pinned Floyd down with his knee, suffocating him.
In response, African people around the world and in the U.S. have risen up in outrage. The sentiment from George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd reflects the sentiment of African people: “They executed my brother in broad daylight. I am just tired of seeing black people dying.”
Floyd’s murder follows in the wake of thousands of police and white civilian murders of African people year after year, most recently Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, and Breonna Taylor who was killed by the Louisville police who invaded her house in March.
This is the latest, horrific murder in this period of escalating attacks on African people as we face the devastating effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, labelled by Chairman Omali Yeshitela as “the colonial virus.” "