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Statement on Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s Inaction in Response to George Floyd’s Death

Statement from National LGBTQ Task Force:

“How many Black people have to die before anti-Black violence is taken seriously? Our thoughts are with George Floyd’s loved ones for their untenable loss. And we support the ongoing protests underway in Minneapolis and St. Paul demanding that the four officers who were involved in this fatality be arrested and charged with murder.

Today, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman issued a statement to justify his inaction stating in part, ‘In order to bring charges and obtain a guilty verdict, there are very specific parts of the law which must be met in prosecuting any crime of violence.’ To those who have seen the videos, this reasoning is inexcusable. As protests emerge across the nation, County Attorney Freeman and other elected leaders must be called out for tacitly allowing hatred and injustice towards Black people to go unchecked.”

-Stacey Long Simmons, Esq., Director of Advocacy & Action