George Floyd, the unarmed Black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck, has been mourned by loved ones, including his fiancée who granted an interview to talk about him.
George’s fiancée, Courteney Ross said the deceased was a “gentle giant” to those who knew him.
The 46-year-old trucker moved to Minneapolis from Houston about four or five years ago looking for better job opportunities and he was doing well in Minneapolis, it was revealed.
Ross said Floyd’s daughter still lives in Houston, and so do a lot of his family and friends.
Ross also called for protesters to forgive the cop who killed George.
“You know, if he was here, he would say that he’s a man of God. He would stand on that firmly,” Ross said.
“He stood up for people, he was there for people when they were down, he loved people that were thrown away,” Ross added. “We prayed over every meal, we prayed if we were having a hard time, we prayed if we were having a good time.”
Ross said she knows the community is hurting, and she hopes they respond in a way that honors Floyd.
“You can’t fight fire with fire. Everything just burns, and I’ve seen it all day, people hate, they’re hating, they’re hating, they’re mad. And he would not want that. He wouldn’t, he wouldn’t, he wouldn’t. He would give grace. I stand on that today. He would still give grace to those people,” she said.
Ross said Floyd’s mother died about a year ago. She believes his mother’s spirit was there with him when he took his last breath.
African Americans have reacted in outrage to Ross’ call for forgiveness.
Others who knew Floyd have also spoken about the man he was.
“If anybody knows him, they know he’s not a confrontational person. And I’m not just saying this because that happened to him. Anybody who knows him will tell you he’s not confrontational,” said Floyd’s friend Milton Carney.
Below is a video of Floyd’s fiancée speaking.
