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"This is what those officers took." What George Floyd's family wants the world to know.

 

George Floyd will never see his six-year-old daughter Gianna grow up, graduate, or get married.

A reality his daughter’s mother Roxie Washington poignantly pointed out in a short but emotional statement during Floyd’s family press conference.

“I want everyone to know this is what those officers took. At the end of the day, they get to go home and be with their families. Gianna does not have a father. He will never see her grow up, graduate, he will never walk her down the aisle. If there’s a problem she’s having and she needs her dad – she does not have that anymore,” she told her country through tears.

“I am here for my baby, and I am here for George, because I want justice for him because he was good… this is the proof,” she said, gesturing to their daughter.

WATCH: Roxie Washington’s emotional statement about the death of George Floyd, the father of their six-year-old daughter Gianna. Post continues after video.

Video via ABC

“Why do we have to see her pain? I am here to get justice for my brother … and somehow, goddammit, we are going to get it,” family friend Stephen Jackson, a former National Basketball Association player, said.

Floyd also has a second daughter to another woman Rose Hudson, who he dated more than 20 years ago. Last week she told CNN affiliate KTRK their daughter is now the mother of a toddler who Floyd was yet to meet.

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“My daughter had to see her daddy get killed on live TV,” she said, adding that he was a “great guy” and “good father to his girls.”

On May 25, George Floyd died after pleading with the police officer whose knee was on his neck that he couldn’t breathe.

Video shared widely of the distressing incident shows the 46-year-old’s final moments, as he becomes motionless underneath the officer’s weight.

 

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On Monday, May 25, George Floyd died after pleading that he couldn’t breathe, while a police officer held him down with a knee on his neck.⁠ ⁠ The incident in the US city of Minneapolis was live-streamed on Facebook by a bystander, showing white police officer Derek Chauvin arresting Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man. Floyd is handcuffed, and can be heard protesting that he could not breathe, before he becomes motionless. He later died in hospital.⁠ ⁠ The four police officers involved in Floyd’s arrest have been fired but there has since been protests and public outcry demanding that the officers should be charged with murder.⁠ ⁠ Link in bio to find out more. ⁠ ⁠ #GeorgeFloyd #BlackLivesMatter⁠

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A preliminary autopsy report revealed that violent police restraint combined with “underlying health conditions” contributed to George Floyd’s death. Officer Derek Chauvin has now been charged with murder.

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Floyd’s death sparked widespread demonstrations across America, with at least 30 US cities taking to the streets in what is now the eighth day of protests. Those protests have since exploded internationally, including here in Australia.

The day Floyd died, he was in Minneapolis looking for work. He was arrested after a shopkeeper called the police on suspicion he was using a counterfeit $20 bill.

His friends, colleagues, and cousins paint a picture of a kind, loving man. His nickname, reports The Sun, was “gentle giant” while at high school.

As the looting and violence escalated in the days after his death, Floyd’s brother Terence flew from New York to Minneapolis to the street where his brother died and called on people to stop smashing windows and setting things on fire.

George Floyd's Brother Holds Prayer Vigil At Memorial Site
Terence Floyd attends a vigil where his brother George Floyd was killed by police Image: Stephen Maturen/Getty.
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"If I'm not over here wildin' out, If I'm not over here blowing up stuff, if I'm not over here messing up my community, then what are y'all doing? What are y'all doing?" he said on Monday, a week after his death.

"Y'all doing nothing. Because That's not going to bring my brother back at all."

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While visiting the memorial - covered in tributes for his brother - Terence was overcome with emotion, with two supporters holding him up at one point as he neared the site of his brother's death.

"My family is a peaceful family, my family is god-fearing. Let's do this another way. Let's stop thinking that our voice doesn't matter and vote," he said.

"Do this peacefully. Please. My brother moved here from Houston and I used to talk to him on the phone. He loved it here. I know he would not want you all to be doing this."

You can find the GoFundMe for George's daughter Gianna here.

If you have the means to do so, you can actively help the Black Lives Matter cause in Australia and the United States by donating to organisations working towards racial justice. A couple of options include the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance, an organisation that empowers and advocates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and the Justice for David Dungay fund to support the family of David Dungay Junior, an Aboriginal man who died in a Sydney jail. You can also donate to the Black Lives Matter Global Network here. If you can, consider regularly donating to Indigenous-run organisations and First Nations causes. Other active ways to help include signing petitions, attending peaceful protests, listening to BIPOC, raising their voices, educating yourself on racism and privilege and ensuring we are all taking part in the conversation to dismantle systemic racism.

Feature image: Getty.