George Floyd Riots by Lucas Rendina

On May 25, an african-american man named George Floyd died in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When he was arrested for forgery, a police officer named Derek Chauvin choked him by kneeling on his neck while he was lying on the street, handcuffed. Three other officers watched and did nothing while he became unresponsive and eventually died. While this happened, Floyd was saying he couldn't breathe and passing people called for the officer to get off him, but he ignored them. This has been a big deal recently, and it sparked outrage across the country, especially with the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests began on the street where this happened, but many of them soon turned into riots when people took the opportunity to loot and burn stores. More protests followed in cities such as Chicago, Louisville, and Memphis. Many of these turned equally violent, with police cars being destroyed and buildings being lit on fire. Some of the people being hurt by this are small business owners, and the destruction is only making matters worse. What happened to George Floyd was tragic, but destroying Walmarts, Targets, and in many cases, small businesses, is not helping any cause. Peaceful protests may not have gotten as much attention, but would have been better if all this violence had been avoided.