Stephen Jackson speaks on death of George Floyd: ‘When was murder ever worth it?’

Stephen Jackson, who said he grew up with George Floyd, shared remarks in Minnesota on Friday after protests and riots erupted.

Former Golden State Warriors Stephen Jackson led a speech Friday about George Floyd, whose death at the hands of police has led to protests and riots throughout the country calling for the officer’s arrest.

Floyd, accused of forgery, died Monday after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for about eight minutes despite pleas from Floyd, who was handcuffed, that he couldn’t breathe. The four officers involved were fired and Chauvin was arrested Friday.

Jackson told the TODAY Show that he and Floyd grew up together in Houston and were longtime friends.

In Minnesota on Friday, Jackson lamented the death of his “twin” at an event with Jamie Foxx and NBA players including Karl-Anthony Towns, Josh Okogie, Gary Trent Jr. and Royce White, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski.

Here are some clips of Jackson speaking.

“When was murder ever worth it?

“They’re not going to demean the character of George Floyd. My twin,” Jackson said. “A lot of times when police do things that they know that’s wrong, the first thing they try to do is cover it up and bring up your background to make it seem like the (expletive) that they did was worth it.

“When was murder ever worth it?

“But if it’s a black man, it’s approved.

“You can’t tell me when that man had his knee on my brother’s neck, taking his life away, with his hand in his pocket, that that smirk on his face didn’t say ‘I’m protecting you.'”

“We gotta come up with our own answers.”

“Given there’s no answers, we gotta come up with our own answers. And we’re willing to do that. Understand that. We’re willing to do that. We’re going to use our platform,” he said. I’m gonna use everything I have to get a conviction. To get all these (expletives) in jail. Excuse my french, I’m angry. but I’m a proud black man.”

“Imagine if he was white.”

“Imagine this. A man growing up in an area where the odds are already against him. Trying to figure it out. You know they say experience is the best teacher, so you’re gonna make mistakes. Everybody gonna make mistakes. You make some bad decisions. It happens. We all make bad decisions, right? We make bad decisions. Even being successful, I’ve made bad decisions. Right? You get to a point where you make a bad decision and you end up suffering for it. … You rehabilitate yourself. You have relationships with people where you’re able to get away and try to better your life, right, because you’ve been in the system. All they tell you, the only way you can get out is if you rehabilitate yourself. And when you rehabilitate yourself, you get out, and you’re still treated like a criminal.

“Stay with me now. Envision that. You get an opportunity to move away from the environment that brought you down. You get away, you be successful. You get a job, your life starts turning in the right direction. You stumble a little bit again. That’s not worth your life, though. You stumble a little bit again and you end up on the ground with a knee in your neck. Screaming your mama’s name, screaming your kids’ names. Going to the bathroom on yourself.

“Imagine if he was white. Ponder that for a minute. Imagine if he was white.”

“We don’t get no justice.”

“You can’t tell me that he didn’t feel that it was his duty to murder my brother and that he knew he was going to get away with it. You can’t tell me that wasn’t the look on his face.

“We’ve seen it so many times, so many times, and we see it right in our face that we don’t get no justice.”

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