Killer Mike Called George Floyd’s Death ‘Murder Porn’ in a Powerful Speech to Atlanta Citizens
Protests against police brutality have raged across the country since the death of Minneapolis, Minnesota resident, George Floyd. And Atlanta has not been immune. In the interest of public wellbeing, rap star and advocate, Killer Mike, addressed his city with an emotional speech, calling for accountability, action, and justice. Here’s what the public figure had to say.
Peaceful protests turned tense in Atlanta
On May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 46-year-old Floyd became the latest in a long line of African Americans to die while in police custody. A bystander recorded the incident, which involved Floyd and four law enforcement professionals.
In the video, an officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck for several minutes until he became motionless. Paramedics arrived on the scene to take him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The video went viral, igniting explosive protests across the country. By May 29, CNN, which is headquartered in Atlanta, had been vandalized, fires had been set in the city, and tensions rose between enraged demonstrators and the police force.
Killer Mike, a pillar of the Atlanta community, addressed the city in a press conference. He acknowledged his own anger over Floyd’s death but pled with his fellow Atlantans to go home and “come up with real solutions.”
Killer Mike gave Atlanta a lesson about duty
Flanked by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Police Chief Erika Shields, Killer Mike explained how historical details about the Confederate South and the Civil Rights Movement can provide insights into today’s social climate. He said this:
I didn’t want to come, and I don’t want to be here. I’m the son of an Atlanta City Police officer, my cousin is an Atlanta City police officer, and my other cousin is an East Point police officer. And I got a lot of love and respect for police officers, down to the original eight [Black] police officers in Atlanta, that even after becoming police, had to dress in a YMCA [uniform] because the White officers didn’t want to get dressed with [N-word].
And here we are 80 years later. I watched a White officer assassinate a Black man and I know that tore your heart out. And I know it’s crippling, and I have nothing positive to say in this moment, because I don’t want to be here.
But I’m responsible to be here because it wasn’t just Dr. [Martin Luther] King and people dressed nicely who marched and protested to progress this city and so many other cities. It was people like my grandmother, people like my aunts and uncles, who were members of the SCLC and NAACP, and in particular, Reverend James Orange, Mrs. Alice Johnson, and Reverend [Albert] Love, who we just lost last year.
So, I am duty-bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy. It is your duty to fortify your own house so that you may be a house of refuge in times of organization. And now is the time to plot, plan, strategize, organize, and mobilize.”
Killer Mike in a press conference for the City of Atlanta
Killer Mike called the viral video of George Floyd’s death ‘murder porn’
Killer Mike described his feelings about the death of George Floyd in vivid detail and appealed to citizens and lawmakers to improve the current state of affairs. He said this:
I’m mad as h*ll. I woke up wanting to see the world burn down yesterday because I’m tired of seeing Black men die. He casually put his knee on a human being’s neck for nine minutes as he died like a zebra in the clutch of a lion’s jaw. And we watch it like murder porn over and over again. So, that’s why children are burning it to the ground. They don’t know what else to do. And it is the responsibility of us to make this better right now.
Killer Mike in a press conference for the City of Atlanta
Viewers can watch Killer Mike’s entire speech here: KILLER MIKE ADDRESSES ATLANTA
