By Luc Brown
Jackson City Councilman Johnny Dodd (District 2) is asking the community to come to Jackson City Hall Tuesday, June 2 at 5: 30 p.m. to kneel for 9 minutes in honor of George Floyd, according to an email and Facebook post from Dodd.
Jackson City Hall is located at 101 E. Main Street, Jackson, Tenn.
George Floyd, an African-American man, died in the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota on May 25, 2020. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.
On May 29, Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death, with Hennepin County attorney Michael O. Freeman saying he anticipated charges to be brought against the other three officers at the scene.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd’s family found that Floyd’s death was “a homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain”.