George Floyd’s death has awakened the nation and has even had a global impact.
On May 25, George Floyd’s life was taken away at the hands of four Minneapolis police officers, who are now all facing charges.
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During the unjust fatal arrest, an unidentified woman and a longtime friend of Floyd, Maurice Lester Hall, was in the car before Minneapolis got Floyd out of his vehicle. Officers were responding to a call from a local store owner where Floyd allegedly used counterfeit money.
Hall, who is a key eye witness, saw the entire traumatizing event. He told NY Times, “I could hear him pleading, ‘Please, officer, what’s all this for?”
“He was just crying out at that time for anyone to help because he was dying,” Mr. Hall said. “I’m going to always remember seeing the fear in Floyd’s face because he’s such a king. That’s what sticks with me, seeing a grown man cry, before seeing a grown man die.”
At the time of Floyd’s murder, Hall gave authorities a false name because he has outstanding warrants. Hall left Minneapolis and booked it to Houston two days later, after visiting a memorial at the site of the police encounter.
“When the whole world was finding out that they murdered George Floyd,” he said, “I went and said a prayer where I witnessed him take his last breath, and I left.”
Hall was eventually captured by police on June 1, he was having dinner with his family until he was surrounded by a dozen cops. He was then questioned for hours and then jailed for 10 hours until his lawyer, Ashlee C. McFarlane, fought for his release.
In response, McFarlane said, “This is not how you treat a key witness, especially one that had just seen his friend murdered by police.”
Hall and Floyd were both Houston natives and reconnected in 2016 by a pastor. Hall considered Floyd to be a mentor and is “distraught” at what happened.
Take a look at Floyd’s family speaking out: