Many were angry Tuesday with the Las Vegas Raiders for a tweet the organization made after the conviction of Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, for the murder of George Floyd.
Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, is not one of those people. He issued a statement on Wednesday in support of the Raiders and the “I CAN BREATHEPost for which team owner Mark Davis has accepted responsibility.
“On behalf of our family, I would like to thank the Las Vegas Raiders organization and its leadership for their support of our family and for our country’s ongoing pursuit of justice and equality for all,” Philonise Floyd said.
“Now, more than ever before, we must come together as one and continue this struggle. Our family breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in almost a year. And I know it applies to so many people across the country and the world. Let’s breathe together in honor of my big brother who could not. Let’s do it for George. ”
George Floyd uttered the phrase “I can not breathe” as he lay on the ground with Chauvin’s knee pressed against his neck during a police stop on May 25, 2020. By the time Chauvin’s knee to more than nine minutes removed, Floyd was dead. On Tuesday, Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Davis said he based the Raiders’ tweet on a quote by Philonise Floyd following Chauvin’s conviction: “Today we can breathe again.”
“I felt it was a powerful statement,” Davis told ESPN on Tuesday. “Today has been a day where I can breathe, and we can all breathe again because justice has been served. But we still have a lot of work to do on social justice and police brutality. ”
‘I can not breathe’ first became an exclamation point during protests and protests after the death in 2014 in 2014 of Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black man who repeatedly uttered the phrase while police were strangling him. has. At the time, police supporters said, “I can breathe.”
Davis told Athletic that he was not aware that the latter phrase had been used in such a way before.
“I was not aware of it,” Davis said. “Absolutely not. I had no idea. It was a situation I was not aware of. I can see where it could be based on what I said.”
Davis added that “if I offend the family, I’m deeply, deeply disappointed.” But he has no plans to remove the tweet.
“It’s all out there,” Davis said. “It’s not an excuse. I’m not ashamed of what I said, but I’ve learned something now. ‘