MNA and Nurses Respond to the Killing of George Floyd by Police

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

We have all seen on the news the terrible scene that played out in the streets in Minnesota when George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black male, was arrested by the Minnesota Police for attempted forgery at a convenience store. The action was caught on video as George Floyd, handcuffed and pinned to the ground face down by an officer who pressed with his full weight with his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for more than 8 minutes. We watched and heard George Floyd crying out that he couldn't breathe. We heard him calling for "Mama". We watched as his body went limp with the officer still holding him down. This will be a scene I shall never forget.

The following are quotes from the Minnesota Nurses Association's response to this heinous crime.

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As nurses, we see the horrific effects of racism in our hospitals and community every day. We cannot remain silent as yet another black man has died at the hands of police...

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George Floyd's last words were "I can't breathe.” George Floyd died shortly after arriving at the hospital."

Nurses jump into action when they hear someone say "I can't breathe", instead of standing there watching them die. Their goal is to save lives, not kill people

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In the case of George Floyd, Minneapolis Police took no care or life-saving measures. Instead, they left him pinned down to the ground until paramedics arrived. Police ignored the pleas of George Floyd and he died.

Nurses care for all patients, regardless of their gender, race, religion or other status. We expect the same from the police. Unfortunately, nurses continue to see the devastating effects of systematic racism and oppression targeting people of color in our communities. We demand justice for George Floyd and a stop to the unnecessary death of black men at the hands of those who should protect them.

As a nurse, or as a compassionate human, how has this horrific event affected you? We have seen protests (some peaceful and some that have erupted into riots), vandalism, looting, and more. What is going on in your community? What actions can nurses take?

Let us stand together and let our voices be heard. Post your comments below.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

On 4/29/2021 at 12:30 AM, gere7404 said:

actually, the only person killed that day was a white woman shot by a black police officer 

Proof, please.  And an officer later died of his injuries

[morte, LPN, LVN]

On 4/22/2021 at 8:34 PM, Daisy4RN said:

True, but that hasn't stopped the Dem liberal MSM from blaming the cop

 

https://amac.us/americas-25-worst-cities-are-democrat-led-the-answer-new-leaders

https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/09/democrats-hurt-blacks-low-expectations/

https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2020/02/why_are_liberal_cities_such_a_mess.html

https://m.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jun/10/democrats-exploit-well-meaning-passions-in-cities

https://apnews.com/article/archive-race-and-ethnicity-gerald-ford-cd60b6d9b1e34e20b9b0c19205c2cae6

https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/how-decades-of-democratic-rule-ruined-some-of-our-finest-cities

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2016/08/25/7-ways-democrat-policies-are-killing-americas-inner-cities

 

 

 

Not one of your sources is legit. 

[morte, LPN, LVN]

On 4/27/2021 at 6:54 PM, Workitinurfava said:

He told no lies. I'm glad he spoke the truth of what he is seeing.

Irrelevant 

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

I have been reading more about the Ma'Khia Bryant situation, and found that maybe I myself have some biases to work on. I previously stated that maybe she had to be shot because she was threatening someone else. Then I read this and other similar statements:

"Crisis response experts noted, however, that deescalation tactics — like commanding Bryant to drop the weapon, physically getting between the women, or simply communicating with her — could have kept everyone alive. In many recorded encounters between the police and white people carrying weapons, for instance, officers didn’t shoot first or even reach for their guns — they successfully managed to peacefully apprehend the suspect."

White men who have committed mass shootings have been arrested without being killed. I can NOT comment on police techniques because I am not and could never be a cop, but I do wonder how a 16 yr old girl without a firearm needs to be shot but a white man with multiple AK 47s doesn't. 

[MunoRN, RN]

22 minutes ago, LibraNurse27 said:

I have been reading more about the Ma'Khia Bryant situation, and found that maybe I myself have some biases to work on. I previously stated that maybe she had to be shot because she was threatening someone else. Then I read this and other similar statements:

"Crisis response experts noted, however, that deescalation tactics — like commanding Bryant to drop the weapon, physically getting between the women, or simply communicating with her — could have kept everyone alive. In many recorded encounters between the police and white people carrying weapons, for instance, officers didn’t shoot first or even reach for their guns — they successfully managed to peacefully apprehend the suspect."

White men who have committed mass shootings have been arrested without being killed. I can NOT comment on police techniques because I am not and could never be a cop, but I do wonder how a 16 yr old girl without a firearm needs to be shot but a white man with multiple AK 47s doesn't. 

If the situation was that she was just holding a weapon, or threatening someone else with a weapon then I could see room for non-lethal intervention first, but that's not what happened, she was actively stabbing multiple people.

[NurseBlaq]

6 hours ago, MunoRN said:

If the situation was that she was just holding a weapon, or threatening someone else with a weapon then I could see room for non-lethal intervention first, but that's not what happened, she was actively stabbing multiple people.

No, she was not. She stabbed not a single person and she picked the knife up off the ground after she was shoved to the ground while being jumped. I'm tired of people making infinite excuses to validate this child being murdered but don't have that same energy for white folk who do far worse. There are videos of grown white men beating the hell out of the police, stabbing them, shooting them or at them, so forth and so on without so much as being tased. She was defending herself and was the one in danger hence why she called the police. There's a video clear as day showing this but here you are reaching for validation in this child's murder. Some of y'all are real iffy on situations involving nonwhite people. I'm afraid for the patients in your care.

[gere7404, BSN, RN]

6 hours ago, MunoRN said:

If the situation was that she was just holding a weapon, or threatening someone else with a weapon then I could see room for non-lethal intervention first, but that's not what happened, she was actively stabbing multiple people.

to be accurate, she didn’t stab anybody; she had another girl up against a car and appeared to be attempting to stab her before as was shot. 
 

 

 

[MunoRN, RN]

15 hours ago, NurseBlaq said:

No, she was not. She stabbed not a single person and she picked the knife up off the ground after she was shoved to the ground while being jumped. I'm tired of people making infinite excuses to validate this child being murdered but don't have that same energy for white folk who do far worse. There are videos of grown white men beating the hell out of the police, stabbing them, shooting them or at them, so forth and so on without so much as being tased. She was defending herself and was the one in danger hence why she called the police. There's a video clear as day showing this but here you are reaching for validation in this child's murder. Some of y'all are real iffy on situations involving nonwhite people. I'm afraid for the patients in your care.

No, that's not what happened, there are at least two videos of the incident. I would agree that "stabbed at" is more accurate than "stabbed" since in multiple attempts she failed land a penetrating blow.

But she wasn't shot while just standing there holding a knife she found on the ground, or simply defending her self, she stated "I'm going to stab the *** out of you ***" while chasing and attempting to stab the first woman, then turned to another woman and was again attempting to stab her when she was shot.

There absolutely are a disturbing number of incidents where officers have killed people of color where there was clearly no justification for lethal force.  This was clearly not one of those situations.  Misrepresenting or distorting what actually happened to pad the list only weakens the argument that this is actually a problem.

 

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

47 minutes ago, MunoRN said:

Misrepresenting or distorting what actually happened to pad the list only weakens the argument that this is actually a problem.

That is not what people are doing. Many have made the distinction that in this case the person murdered by a police officer was committing a crime. They also pointed out that if she had been a young white girl she would likely not have been shot if she was doing the exact same thing.

Somehow police find ways to de-escalate or use nonfatal techniques to take people down when it's a white person, but if it's a black person suddenly lethal force becomes necessary, even when it's a young girl in foster care. I've had pts threaten me with knives and I somehow survived without shooting them. Not even joking. I still state I could never do a police officer's job and that it is one of the most difficult jobs I can imagine, but racism in policing cannot be denied. 

[MunoRN, RN]

9 minutes ago, LibraNurse27 said:

That is not what people are doing. Many have made the distinction that in this case the person murdered by a police officer was committing a crime. They also pointed out that if she had been a young white girl she would likely not have been shot if she was doing the exact same thing.

Somehow police find ways to de-escalate or use nonfatal techniques to take people down when it's a white person, but if it's a black person suddenly lethal force becomes necessary, even when it's a young girl in foster care. I've had pts threaten me with knives and I somehow survived without shooting them. Not even joking. I still state I could never do a police officer's job and that it is one of the most difficult jobs I can imagine, but racism in policing cannot be denied. 

And there certainly are incidents where police fail to utilize non-lethal intervention or de-escalation even though it would appear appropriate, this wasn't one of those situations.

Had she simply been holding and/or threatening to use a deadly weapon then I might agree, but she was actively attacking people with a deadly weapon, not just threatening to do that, trying to de-escalate with reasoned discussion or even a taser is no longer appropriate at that point.

[Workitinurfava, BSN, RN]

Defunding the police is a bad idea. 

[LibraNurse27, BSN, RN]

3 hours ago, Workitinurfava said:

Defunding the police is a bad idea. 

I agree. Also their funding should be redistributed. Less money on military style equipment. More money on implicit bias training, de-escalation training, education about mental illness and the factors that lead to crime. It's scary that an 18 year old can become a cop right after high school with the only training being an 8 week academy. 18 year olds' brains are not fully developed, but they are given deadly weapons and not much training. 

There are incidents where young police officers kill a suspect and express regret, saying they were in a high pressure situation and didn't feel well prepared. I really feel for them, because the victim's life is over but the shooter's life is also destroyed. Even if they don't go to jail they have to live with what happened. It would be better for society and for police officers to fund the police as much as we can but change the way we allocate the funds. Right now I feel we are setting them up to fail, and its not fair to communities or to the officers themselves. Although I have a LOT of criticisms about the police, I do have compassion for those trying to do the job well under the current circumstances.