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"I'm here because they are not going to demean
the character of George Floyd -- my twin," Jackson, who played
14 seasons in the NBA, said at a rally at the Government Center
Plaza in Minneapolis.
The 42-year-old Jackson, who won a championship with the San
Antonio Spurs in 2003, grew up in Houston with Floyd, a
46-year-old black man who died after a white police officer,
Derek Chauvin, pinned him to the ground with a knee to his
throat on Monday. A bystander caught the incident on video using
a cell phone.
Chauvin, who along with three other police officers on the scene
was fired on Tuesday, was arrested and charged with third-degree
murder and manslaughter on Friday.
"A lot of times when police do things that they know is wrong,
the first thing that they try to do is cover it up and bring up
your background to make it seem like the bullshit that they did
was worth it," Jackson said.
"When was murder ever worth it? When it's a black man."
The cellphone footage showed Floyd repeatedly moaning and
gasping while he pleaded to Chauvin, kneeling on his neck,
"Please, I can't breathe." After several minutes, Floyd
gradually grows quiet and ceases to move.
"You can't tell me when that man had his knee on my brother's
neck, taking his life away, with his hand in his pocket, that
that smirk on his face didn't say, 'I'm protected.'"
"I stand for what's right and I'm going to get justice for my
friend," Jackson said on NBC's Today show on Thursday.
Jackson joins numerous other athletes, including Los Angeles
Lakers forward LeBron James and Basketball Hall of Famer Lisa
Leslie, who also spoke out on Floyd's death.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by David
Gregorio)
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