Here’s the man who dismissed Derek Michael Chauvin from the police force, the man who knelt on George Floyd’s neck until he died.
His name is Medaria Arradondo, he is the chief of police in Minneapolis. Another interesting thing about him is that he is a black man.
The death of George Floyd stirred up unrest in Minneapolis, and other cities in the United States, and this prompted Medaria Arradondo to dismiss Derek, and the other three officers who were with him that day.
During an interview with a CNN correspondent, Arradondo was asked why he dismissed the four officers, and his reply meant so much to people.
He said that there are absolute truths in life. Because all of us need air to breathe. The killing of George Floyd was one of those absolute truths – and that truth is, it is wrong.
He said that he did not need days or weeks to make the decision. Neither did he need any processes to tell him that what the officers did to George Floyd was wrong.
Killing Floyd was an outright violation of humanity. Not just that, it is also a violation of the oath that these police officers took. What they did was against what they believe in. And it is an absolute wrong.
On Sunday night, Arradondo spoke directly with George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd.
Philonise was angry that the other three officers were in their houses sleeping on their beds, while his brother is dead. Only Derek was charged with murder, while the other three officers were only dismissed without charges.
He added that if justice must really be done, then the other three officers need to be charged too.
He then asked the police chief if his brother will get justice.
To this, Arradondo replied that, remaining silent on this matter indirectly means that the person is complicit in the crime. Those two are closely related. But that the decision to charge the officers is not his to make. It is left for the county’s attorney office to decide.
Another thing that I applaud Arradondo for is how he took responsibility for the death of George Floyd. He said that for the fact that he died in the hands of the police automatically makes him an accomplice.
So remaining silent, and not taking any actions, means being complicit.
Arradondo’s decision to fire the four officers shows that he doesn’t support what they did.
For long decades, the black people have been suffering brutality in the hands of white police officers, and many of them had been killed. But in most of these cases, no one had been held accountable for it.
The riots sweeping across the cities of America now shows that the black people are tired of these disparities in policing in America.
In 2017, Arradondo made history when he became the first black man to be chief of police in Minneapolis. He is Mexican-American.
As chief of police, he was able to stop the low-level marijuana stings because of the complaints he was receiving on racial disparities.
Arradondo won a lot of praises when he dismissed the four officers immediately after George’s death. It is believed that his quick action is the reason the officers were held accountable for their actions.
We salute Medaria Arradondo for making that brave decision. It really shows that he is not in support of what happened.
But whether the community will be able to trust the police force again, is another problem.
Please drop some nice words for this black man, because be did well.
Also like and and share the post, and follow me here for more interesting articles.
