Star Wars and Pacific Rim actor John Boyega has shared a post on Twitter, reacting to George Floyd’s death at the hands of four MPD officers.
On May 25th, an unarmed African-American man named George Floyd was apprehended by several police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Several bystanders recorded the incident, which has since gone viral on social media platforms. While the alleged “forgery in progress” was a non-violent crime, Floyd died later that day in Hennepin County Medical Center due to one of the officers kneeling on his neck for over seven minutes on the scene, giving him respiratory distress. As people saw in the videos that have found their way online, Floyd repeatedly tells them that he “can’t breathe” while groaning and sobbing, but the officers continue to taunt him. After some time, Floyd becomes motionless, but the officer doesn’t remove his knee until paramedics arrive and put him on a stretcher.
Following the incident, Mayor Jacob Frey announced that four officers who were involved in the arrest have been fired. The incident has obviously prompted a lot of reactions from different people, including Star Wars‘ John Boyega, who recently tweeted:
“I really f***ng hate racists.”
When one of his followers responded that they “can’t conquer hatred with hatred,” the actor doubled down on his statement, writing:
“I said what I said. Speak for yourself at all times.”
Another user quickly chimed in, revealing that when his girlfriend told him that she hates whites, he broke up with her. As such, Boyega clarified his statement one more time.
“I am talking about WHITE on BLACK racism. The kind that has ruined the world not caused a lil break up with your girlfriend,” He wrote.
Given that this is Twitter we’re talking about, as you’d expect, and as you’d imagine, the Star Wars actor received his share of criticism after these controversial posts. Tell us, though, what are your thoughts on the matter? Is Boyega right to call these people out so strongly? Sound off in the comments down below.