"Gentle Giant" George Floyd's Brother Condemns Violent Protests, Calls for Peace | "Channel Your Anger Elsewhere"

Many districts of the US are ablaze after anti-racism protests turned violent. The unfortunate death of an African American man, George Floyd, in police custody has sparked widespread outrage and led to protests. Some of those protests also turned violent and caused the loss of property. Though, many of those individuals who lost their property still stood with the #BlackLivesMatter protests. While protesting against racism is important, many have urged that using violence derails the issue at hand.

George's brother, Terrence, is "angry" about his brother's death but he too is asking for peace and condemning the violence. Terrence told ABC News that his brother stood for peace and wouldn't have approved of what the protests have turned into.

"I'm outraged too," he said. "Sometimes I get angry. I want to go crazy. My brother wasn't about that. You'll hear a lot of people saying, 'He was a gentle giant.'" He added that he wants Derek Chauvin, the officer who had kneeled on his brother's neck to be charged for first-degree murder. He wants the other three cops who had attacked his brother or been there at the time to be charged as well. All of them have been fired.

He plans to visit the site in Minneapolis where his brother passed away tragically. "I just had to come down here, and let people know, just channel your anger elsewhere," he said.

The last bit is especially true as many of those who knew George have called him "gentle." At 6 feet, 6 inches, the star tight end for Jack Yates High School had played in the 1992 state championship game in the Houston Astrodome, according to his classmate Donnell  Cooper told ABC News. The extra-tall football player had earned the name of "gentle giant" since he used to tower over everyone.

"Quiet personality but a beautiful spirit," Cooper said. His death "definitely caught me by surprise. It's just so sad, the world we're living in now," he added.

George used to work as a bouncer at a restaurant in Minnesota but lost his job after the governor had issued a stay-at-home order due to the pandemic. He had priors and came to this state from Texas for a new start, but it became the place where his life ended. In 2007, he had been charged with armed robbery in a home invasion in Houston. Two years later, he was sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea deal.

His friend, Harris, told ABC News that the "gentle giant" had moved to Minneapolis to look for jobs around 2014. Harris was the one who had talked the high school football player into going to Minneapolis after getting out of prison. "He was looking to start over fresh, a new beginning," Harris said. "He was happy with the change he was making."

He had initially landed a job working as security at a Salvation Army store in Minneapolis. Then, he started working two jobs. He was a bouncer at Conga Latin Bistro and he drove trucks. "Always cheerful," Jovanni Tunstrom, the bistro's owner, said. "He had a good attitude. He would dance badly to make people laugh. I tried to teach him how to dance because he loved Latin music, but I couldn't because he was too tall for me. He always called me 'Bossman.' I said, 'Floyd, don't call me Bossman. I'm your friend."

"He was doing whatever it takes to maintain going forward with his life," Harris said. He also added that he found it hard to believe that his friend would resort to forgery. "I've never known him to do anything like that."

On May 25, an out-of-work George had gone to a convenience store where he paid with a counterfeit $20 bill. The convenience store clerk called the cops and what happened later was captured in a video. The big guy can be heard begging for his life he says he can't breathe. At the end of the video, paramedics carried away a limp George and placed him in an ambulance.

George is survived by his daughter, who is six, and lives with her mother, Roxie Washington, in Houston. This is the official GoFundMe page set up for his family. 

References:

https://abc13.com/society/george-floyds-brother-condemns-violent-protests-asks-for-peace/6223612/

https://abc13.com/george-floyd-minneapolis-killed-video/6221377/