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'That's Not Going To Bring My Brother Back': George Floyd’s Family Urges End To Looting, Violence
"So let’s do this another way," Terrence Floyd told supporters of his brother, urging people to work through peaceful means to bring about change.
George Floyd’s family visited the site where he was killed for the first time, remembering the 46-year-old and thanking supporters, but also flatly condemning the rioting, looting, and violence that has gripped American cities in the wake of his death.
Floyd’s younger brother, Terrence Floyd, arrived at the Minneapolis intersection where his brother died around 1 p.m. on Monday, NBC News reported. He wept and prayed for several minutes as several protesters joined him in quiet solidarity.
“Take a knee!” the crowd chanted.
Floyd wore a face mask with his brother’s image, bearing the words “WE CAN’T BREATHE.”
Following the somber moment, Terrence Floyd mingled with and thanked protesters for their support. He later spoke to the crowd outside the business where his sibling was killed over an allegedly counterfeit $20 bill.
“What are y’all doing?” Terrence Floyd shouted into a megaphone, addressing. “Y'all doing nothing! Because that’s not going to bring my brother back, at all.”
He blasted the violence unfolding across the country, which he said was wrongly being carried out in his family’s name.
“My family is a peaceful family,” he said. “My family is god-fearing. ... My brother moved here from Houston and I used to talk to him on the phone. He loved it here.”
Floyd’s younger brother, instead, encouraged demonstrators to get out to the polls and vote for local leaders.
"So let’s do this another way," Terrence Floyd said, "Let’s stop thinking that our voice don’t matter and vote…because it’s a lot of us and [we're] still going to do this peacefully.”
George Floyd’s younger brother is the first known family member to visit the site since George Floyd died while Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest last week, despite Floyd's pleas that he couldn't breathe.
Chauvin has since been fired and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter by Hennepin County prosecutors. Three other police officers who were present at the scene of Floyd’s death have also been terminated but haven't been charged at present. The investigation has since been turned over to the state’s Attorney General, Keith Ellison.
Since Floyd’s death, tense standoffs between police and demonstrators — sometimes boiling over into full-blown riots — have rocked the nation.
In New York, molotov cocktails were hurled at law enforcement, criminal complaints obtained by Oxygen.com show. Police in the nation’s capital fired rubber bullets at protesters outside the Whitehouse on Monday, the New York Times reported. Numerous explosions were heard overnight in Philadelphia, following reports a thief accidentally blew himself up attempting to rig an ATM with explosives, according to KYW-TV. And in Indiana, a young protester lost his eye after being hit with a tear gas canister and officers have been shot at in St. Louis and Las Vegas.
Curfews have been put in place in a number of major cities to contain the chaos, which is estimated to have wreaked millions of dollars in property damage. Thousands have been arrested, including journalists. In Georgia, half a dozen cops face charges following accusations of excessive force, according to arrest warrants obtained by Oxygen.com.
Other members of George Floyd’s family have also called for a de-escalation of the tensions.
"Tearing up things, it's not going to solve anything,” Floyd’s son, Quincy Floyd, told KBTX-TV at a rally in Texas. “My dad is in peace and we have to be the ones to deal with all this stress. It's going to be tough to get over this day by day.”
Floyd’s family, who are from Texas, are expected to join a march in Houston today, the Houston Chronicle reported.
For the latest reporting on the George Floyd protests from NBC News and MSNBC’s worldwide team of correspondents, including a live blog with minute-to-minute updates, visit NBCNews.com and NBCBLK.
