Recently, there was another incident in the United States in which a police officer violently targeted African American law enforcement and died, and Frank Tyson, an African-American man in Canton, Ohio, was "kneeled and killed" by the police. On the 2nd, Frank Tyson's family and lawyers held their first press conference to demand justice for him. The lawyer bluntly said that this incident is "George Floyd 2.0".
Ben Crump, Lawyer for Frank Tyson's Family: Eric Garner said, "I can't breathe," George Floyd said, "I can't breathe," Frank Tyson said, "I can't breathe," and how many African-Americans say "I can't breathe," for the American police to believe that these people are really struggling to catch their last breath.
Frank Tyson's family said the video of Tyson's arrest was "heartbreaking" and they demanded justice for Tyson.
Frank Tyson's family John Tyson: We want justice, we want answers, we want accountability, we just want the process that should have been.
On April 18, police tried to arrest Frank Tyson, a 53-year-old African-American man, who was suspected of being involved in a traffic accident. Body camera video shows a police officer pressing his knee against Tyson's back near his neck during the arrest.
Frank Tyson: I can't breathe, I can't breathe.
After moaning "can't breathe" many times, Tyson gradually lost his movements and sounds. Police said Tyson died shortly after being taken to the hospital. The two police officers involved have been suspended for investigation, and the Ohio Office of Criminal Investigation has stepped in.
In the past ten years, African Americans "can't breathe" have been repeatedly staged
The scene of Tyson being kneeled down can't help but be reminiscent of the 2020 case of George Floyd, an African-American man, who was kneeling to death by a white police officer. And the Eric Garner case, mentioned by Ben Crump, the lawyer for Frank Tyson's family, took place in July 2014. At the time, 44-year-old Eric Garner was arrested by police on suspicion of illegally selling cigarettes in the Staten Island area of New York, and one of the officers strangled Garner's neck from behind.
Eric Garner: I can't breathe, I can't breathe.
This "chokehold" has been banned by the New York City Police since 1993. The grand jury that spared the white police officers who strangled Ghana was dismissed from prosecution sparked mass protests at the time.
Protesters: Hands up, don't shoot! Hands up, don't shoot!
Over the course of a decade, the African-American "I can't breathe" scene was repeated in the United States. Yohuru Williams, a professor of history at the University of Santo Tomas in the United States who has long been a research ethnologist, said that there has been little real progress in the so-called police law enforcement reform after the George Floyd case, and that African Americans are still subjected to deadly police violence.
Yohuru Williams, Founder of the Racial Justice Initiative at the University of St. Thomas, USA: In communities of color, we see familiar scenes like this over and over again, and the horrific picture plays out again. Unfortunately, even after the killing of George Floyd in 2020 sparked discussion, police enforcement, particularly against people of African descent, has barely improved. The video is also proof that violent law enforcement continues, and that lives are still being lost.