Jamie Foxx arrives in Minneapolis to support George Floyd protesters as he asks white people to 'put yourself in our position'
by Ariel Zilber For Dailymail.com- Jamie Foxx, 52, lent his support to protesters in Minneapolis on Friday
- Django Unchained actor said: 'We are not afraid of the moment'
- He appeared alongside friends of George Floyd, 46, who died in police custody
- Floyd was filmed handcuffed on Monday while cop dug his knee into his neck
- Shortly afterward, Floyd died. Video of his arrest went viral and ignited outrage
Actor and comedian Jamie Foxx was in Minneapolis on Friday to lend his support to the demonstrators protesting the police-involved death of George Floyd.
‘All I wanted to do is let you know we not afraid to stand,’ Foxx said on Friday in Minneapolis.
‘We are not afraid of the moment.’
The actor also had a message for sympathetic white Americans.
‘To all of our friends who aren’t black, just try to put yourself in our position,’ Foxx said.
Foxx was seen alongside retired NBA player Stephen Jackson, who has revealed he and Floyd were friends back from their days living in Texas.
Jackson spent part of his career with the hometown Minnesota Timberwolves and has been an outspoken community advocate.
'I’m here because they’re not gonna demean the character of George Floyd, my twin,' Jackson said on Friday.
'A lot of times when police do things that they know that's wrong, the first thing they do is try to cover it up and bring up your background to make it seem like the bull**** that they did was worthy.'
Foxx, the star of such hit films as Ray, Django Unchained, and Any Given Sunday, told protesters that he has witnessed similar unrest before.
‘I’ve experienced this before, able to watch the Rodney King [riots] when I was in [Los Angeles],’ he said.
Floyd, 46, died on Monday in police custody. He was arrested by Minneapolis cops who were called to the scene because of a suspected forgery at a deli.
Video of Floyd's arrest, shows police officer Derek Chauvin pinning him down to the pavement, with the officer's knee pressed against his neck for eight minutes.Floyd is heard saying he couldn't breathe as Chauvin and other officers ignore him.
On Friday, Minnesota authorities announced criminal charges against Chauvin, including third-degree homicide and manslaughter.
Foxx also mentioned his friendship with Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin.
In 2012, Martin, a 17-year-old African American boy from Miami Gardens, was fatally shot by a Florida man, George Zimmerman, while visiting his father’s fiancee at her townhouse in Sanford.
Zimmerman, an armed member of the community watch, told police that Martin looked suspicious because he was wearing a hooded sweater with the hood draped over his head.
During an encounter, Zimmerman fatally shot Martin. He was charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, but was acquitted by a jury after he claimed self-defense.
Foxx said that he spoke to Sybrina Fulton, Martin’s mother, who is now running for a local government seat in Miami-Dade County.
‘If you guys get a chance, please find a circle of mothers, where there are a hundred, 200 cases like this that don’t get the visibility and don’t get the cameras, and they’re strong women,’ Foxx said.
Fulton is a candidate for a seat on the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners. She is seeking to represent District 1.
Her primary election is scheduled for August 25. If she wins, she would move on to the general election on November 3rd.
Foxx praised Fulton for her efforts ‘to try to do something different.’
‘This is the toughest time when things like this happen,’ Foxx said.
Foxx also noted that he and Floyd both had roots in Texas. Floyd was a football player for Yates High School.
‘We used to hear about how great their football team was,’ Foxx, who is a native of the Dallas suburb of Terrell, Texas, said on Friday.
Minneapolis mayor declares 8pm curfew as fourth night of carnage looms and Minnesota Gov. admits 'abject failure' in trying to control George Floyd rioters who 'set a city on fire' forcing residents to hide in their homes
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Friday admitted an 'abject failure' by law enforcement in trying to control crowds of rioters who took over Minneapolis on Thursday night, torching buildings and overrunning a police station, as a city-wide curfew was declared between the hours of 8pm and 6am.
Protesters have been running rampant in Minneapolis for the past three nights in a united show of outrage over the murder of Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed on Monday when a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes because he'd allegedly tried to use a fake $20 to pay for something in a store.
It has sparked a national conversation about race relations and police brutality in America.
On Thursday, as tensions in the city boiled all day, the National Guard started putting in motion plans to intervene to help local law enforcement agencies that were struggling to cope with the mounting threat.
But they weren't given the order to act quickly enough, according to officials who spoke at a press conference on Friday, and it led to a night of chaos that climaxed with the Third Police Precinct being set on fire.
Walz said on Friday that he was considering a curfew to avoid another night of anarchy and later Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey signed a declaration of emergency that imposes a curfew between the hours of 8pm and 6am on Friday and Saturday night.
Walz earlier told reporters that he'd heard from state senators whose constituents were 'locked' in their homes, terrified to go out, with a total lack of police presence or firefighters to help battle streets of blazes.
'Minneapolis and St. Paul are on fire. The fire is still smoldering in our streets. The ashes are symbolic of decades and generations of pain, of anguish unheard. Now generations of pain is manifesting itself in front of the world - and the world is watching,' Walz said.
He added he'd received a complaint from a state senator of a city 'on fire, no police, no firefighters, no social control, constituents locked in houses wondering what they were going to do', and said: 'That is an abject failure that cannot happen.'
The National Guard defended its response, saying it could only act once it had been given a mission but that the mission never came.
They were eventually snapped into action at 12.05am, after the police precinct had been overrun.
Timeline: George Floyd's death at the hands to Minneapolis police sparks nationwide protests
Monday, May 25
Cell phone video shows George Floyd, handcuffed and pinned to the ground, with one police officer - Derek Chauvin - kneeling on his neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Floyd was unresponsive.
Floyd, 46, is heard pleading: 'I can't breathe', as he is arrested by four cops for allegedly using a counterfeit $20 bill at a convenience store. He later died.
Tuesday, May 26
Four Minneapolis officers involved in the incident, including Chauvin and Tou Thao, are fired. Minnesota Mayor Jacob Frey says it is 'the right call'.
As calls mount for the cops to face murder charges, the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension launch an investigation.
That night, the first of several protests over Floyd's death take place in Minneapolis, with protesters shouting: 'I can't breathe!'
These words echo Floyd's plea to officers but the phrase also became a rallying cry in 2014 after the death of Eric Garner, another black man who was killed in police custody during an arrest for the illegal sale of cigarettes.
Wednesday, May 27
Protests continue into a second night in Minneapolis and spread nationwide to Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee.
As anger mounts, the protests become violent with one person in Minneapolis shot dead, stores are looted and buildings are set on fire.
Police in riot gear fired rubber bullets and tear gas at the thousands of protesters demanding justice for Floyd.
Mayor Frey called for the officer's to be charged and said 'I want to see justice for George Floyd.'
It is revealed Chauvin been subject to at least 12 conduct reports since 2001.
Thursday, May 28
A third night of protests with demonstrations in Minneapolis, Memphis, Louisville, Phoenix, New York City and Columbus, Ohio.
Protesters burn down the Third Precinct building while 500 National Guards are dispatched to the riots in Minneapolis.
At least 70 New Yorkers are arrested after clashing with the NYPD.
Protesters in Ohio breached the city's courthouse and shots were fired at the Colorado State Capitol.
Friday, May 29
President Trump blasts ‘radial left Mayor’ Frey and warned ‘thugs’ that ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts’ on Twitter.
The phrase comes from former Miami Police Chief Walter Headley in 1967 when referring to ‘slum hoodlums’ who he believed took advantage of the Civil Rights Movement.
Twitter flags Trump’s tweet for violating its rules about glorifying violence. It comes mere days after the president was fact-checked, sparking a row with the social media giant.
Black CNN Reporter Omar Jimenez is arrested on live TV while reporting on the riots in Minneapolis
Officer Chauvin is charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter over Floyd's death.
Citywide curfew is announced from 8pm - 6am on Friday and Saturday
Gov. Walz said it was down to city mayors to coordinate the response and that they simply never asked for his help but that on Friday and going forward, there would be no such vacuum of leadership.
'You will not see that tonight, there will be no lack of leadership,' he said.
Major General Jon Jensen of the Minnesota National Guard on Friday said there was a lack of clear direction and he was 'very concerned about being asked to move to an unfamiliar area of Minneapolis under the cover of darkness'.
'What traditionally comes with the request is the layout of capability needed and exact the problem trying to be solved. Typically the request for the guard and that type of information come at the same time, sometimes it lags,' he said.
President Trump responded to the carnage late this morning in a tweet saying 'George Floyd will not have died in vain' - after threatening to 'assume control' of Minneapolis with military intervention and warning 'thugs', 'when the looting starts the shooting starts.'
The president's incendiary tweet last night is now hidden by a warning that it violated Twitter's rules about glorifying violence - but the message can be bypassed and the tweet remains live.
Walz said President Trump's tweets which had suggested shooting looters were 'not helpful'.
He said he spoke to Trump before he tweeted. Walz said: 'I did speak to the President. At that point in time, it was in the process where I said we were going to assume control of this and it was unnecessary.'
Derek Chauvin along with three other officers - Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J Alexander Kueng - have been fired over Floyd's fatal arrest. Chauvin has been charged with third degree murder and aggravated assault and is now in custody.
Walz also issued a public apology to the CNN television crew who were arrested by Minnesota State Patrol while reporting on the mayhem this morning.
The governor said he took 'full responsibility' over the incident and had called CNN President Jeff Zucker, who he described as 'incredibly angry', to apologize.
The extraordinary incident was captured live on air showing CNN reporter Omar Jimenez being handcuffed and led away by state troopers. A producer and a photojournalist for the network were also taken away in handcuffs.
'I failed you last night in that,' Walz said. 'And it does not escape me that we are here on the catalyst that lit this spark by what happened with a police detainment of George Floyd and the idea that a reporter would have been taken while another police action was in play is inexcusable.
'The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority. Not because it's a nice thing to do. Because it is a key component of how we fix this.'
A total of 500 National Guard soldiers were deployed to the streets of Minneapolis and neighboring St. Paul last night and Mayor Frey was forced to declared a state of emergency as rioting continued into the early hours.
Frey called the looting 'unacceptable' but raged at Trump for 'refusing to take responsibility for your own actions', saying the president 'knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis'.
Trump's first tweet in the chain accused the 'Radical Left Mayor' of showing 'a total lack of leadership' and warned he was poised to send in troops. This tweet was not hidden by Twitter.
Harrowing new details of how Floyd died also emerged on Friday in Chauvin's criminal complaint.
It described in detail how he was held down for 8 minutes and 43 seconds.
'The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total.
'Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive,' it read.
Floyd family attorney Ben Crump, who was among the first to call for criminal charges to be laid against Chauvin in the wake of Floyd's death, said the move is 'a welcome but overdue step on the road to justice' and demanded he be tried for murder in the first degree.
'We expected a first-degree murder charge. We want a first-degree murder charge. And we want to see the other officers arrested,' Crump said in a statement.
'We call on authorities to revise the charges to reflect the true culpability of this officer. The pain that the black community feels over this murder and what it reflects about the treatment of black people in America is raw and is spilling out onto streets across America.
'While this is a right and necessary step, we need the City of Minneapolis – and cities across the country – to fix the policies and training deficiencies that permitted this unlawful killing – and so many others – to occur.'
US Attorney General William Barr meanwhile said he is 'confident justice will be served', calling the videos of Floyd's death 'harrowing to watch and deeply disturbing.'
The Justice Department and FBI are conducting an investigation to determine whether federal civil rights laws were broken.
The three other cops involved who were fired have not been arrested. They are hiding out now in their homes.
President Trump waded in on the escalating violence in Minneapolis in the early hours of Friday as he warned he would step in and take over if officials fail to bring the rioting under control.
He blasted the 'Radical Left Mayor' Frey saying he needs to 'get his act together' while slamming protesters for 'dishonoring the memory' of Floyd and warning 'when the looting starts, the shooting starts'.
Black CNN reporter is arrested live on air by Minnesota state police while reporting on Minneapolis riots over George Floyd's killing
A black CNN reporter was arrested live on air on Friday morning by Minnesota State Patrol while reporting on the killing of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for eight minutes.
CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez was put in handcuffs and led away from his team of producers this morning at 5.11am CT after the team was moved down the street by police in riot gear.
According to one of his colleagues, the crew was told he was being arrested for refusing to move when he'd been told to but he was heard live on air telling the officers: 'Put us back to where you want us - wherever you'd want us we'll go. Just let us know.'
Jimenez told them they were live on air with CNN and was put in handcuffs.
'I can't stand back & watch this happen to a great American City, Minneapolis.
'A total lack of leadership. Either the very weak Radical Left Mayor, Jacob Frey, get his act together and bring the City under control, or I will send in the National Guard & get the job done right.....,' the president tweeted.
'These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won't let that happen.
Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way.
Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!'
Speaking in the early hours of this morning, Mayor Frey fired back at the president and said: 'Donald Trump knows nothing about the strength of Minneapolis.'
'Weakness is refusing to take responsibility for your own actions. Weakness is pointing your finger at someone else during a time of crisis,' he said.
'Is this a difficult time period? Yes, but you'd better be damn sure that we're going to get through this.'
Frey said he understood the 'pain and anger right now in our city', but added that 'what we have seen over the last several hours and the past couple of nights in terms of looting is unacceptable'.
The mayor revealed it was him who had decided to evacuate the Third Precinct after determining that there were 'imminent threats to both officers and public'.