Everytime a Cop Kills a Black Man
As the Trial of George Floyd’s Killer Proceeds, Another Black Man is Shot to Death by Police
Here’s what I’m trying to imagine: What went through the killer’s mind. Why he refused to hear what George Floyd was screaming. What his ugly smirk meant. // More than nine minutes. On Floyd’s neck. Hands in pocket. Light he was looking for a match. Floyd face down. Floyd finally unconscious. No longer aware. Dead. // The prosecution is methodical. Builds its case. Day after day. Into the 11th day. It’s simple: George Floyd would be alive but for the knee on his throat. Would be alive but for the actions of an officer. But for the history of police control of Black citizens. Of their bodies. Their movements. // A weekend shooting. Black motorist killed in Brooklyn Center. Near Minneapolis. Traffic stop. Arrest warrant. “As the police tried to detain the man, he stepped back into his car, at which point an officer shot him.” This is what the police chief says. Twenty-year-old driver dead at the scene. // Protests. Fires. A “line of police officers fired rubber bullets and chemical agents at protesters, some of whom lobbed rocks, bags of garbage and water bottles at the police.” Calls for calm. For peace. For protesters to wait for more information. For an investigation. As if this is a singular event. // Proximity offers a clue. A 20-year-old driver. A black man. Daunte Wright. Shot by police just miles from the trial of George Floyd’s killer. As the prosecution brings its case to a close. As the defense waits. // Proximity and language. Old narratives of race. Floyd recast as black brute. Druggy. Criminal. His own fault. We’ve heard this argument before. Heard it about Michael Brown. Officer describing him rising. Golem-like. Supernatural. No longer just a man. A fearful beast. // Heard it in Florida, Texas, Oklahoma. Heard it in Cleveland, Staten Island, North Charleston. Hear it over and over again, every time a cop kills a black man. We will hear it about Wright. The arrest warrant as justification. You an bet on that. //