Everything
Last week, George Floyd who was killed at the knee of a white police officer, was finally laid to rest following two weeks of riots and peaceful protests. As we move into a third week protests are not slowing down, in fact, more crowds are gathering each day as America and the world demand justice and rights for all black lives. Despite what are largely peaceful protests, arrests by local law enforcement are still ongoing with many innocent people to face charges.
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One man in particular has caught the eye of Jay-Z and his social justice arm Team Roc following a video which has since gone viral on Twitter. According to Rolling Stone, on June 1 Givionne “Gee” Jordan Jr. was peacefully protesting in Charleston, South Carolina. The video appears to show a group of police officers approach the crowd and single out the black man as he passionately tells the men he loves and respects what they do. “You are not my enemy”, he says. He was then arrested and charged for “disobeying a lawful order.” He was subsequently released on $465 bail.
please watch. please listen closely. if anyone has any information on this man / a link to his go fund me please let me know. this is absolutely not okay. we will not be silenced. pic.twitter.com/t2h6FovmoL
— (っ'-')╮ (@sweeeetdee_) June 1, 2020
The day following his arrest, Team Roc lawyer Jordan Siev sent a letter to the City of Charleston demanding that the police officers involved be reprimanded and charges against the accused be dropped.
Siev wrote, “Here one sees a single protester — who does not threaten, provoke or even approach the dozens of armed police officers facing him, kneeling peacefully and expressing his well-justified grief — hauled away from his fellows and unceremoniously arrested by multiple officers. A more clear-cut violation of this protester’s First Amendment rights could hardly be imagined. It is our understanding that this is not an isolated incident.”
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Just over one week later on June 11, the City of Charleston responded in a letter that has been described as a “dismissive response”.
Charleston Police Chief Luther Reynolds issued a statement to TMZ, revealing that “at the appropriate time, I will have the opportunity to make recommendations in these cases, and will be requesting that prosecutors exercise leniency, up to and including dismissal, as the circumstances warrant.”
Stay tuned for further developments.
