Beyoncé is encouraging her followers to remain “aligned and focused” in nationwide social justice reform efforts following Thursday’s arrest of the three remaining officers involved in George Floyd’s death (June 3).
“The world came together for George Floyd,” the multi-platinum selling singer captioned a photo of Minneapolis protests. “We know there is a long road ahead. Let’s remain aligned and focused in our call for real justice.”
Her post arrived hours after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced that ex-police officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng were arrested and charged with aiding and abetting a murder in the second-degree. Additionally, Derek Chauvin’s criminal charge was upgraded to second-degree murder.
Bey previously posted a powerful call-to-action video on Instagram after Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death on Friday (May 29).
“We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight,” she said in the clip. “We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain. I’m not only speaking to people of color. If you’re white, black, brown or anything in between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now.”
“No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family, in humanity. He’s our family because he’s a fellow American,” she continued. “There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved.”
The Lemonade crafter also directed her followers to demand justice for Floyd by signing petitions on Change.org, Color of Change, We Can’t Breathe and NAACP through her website.
Likewise, her husband JAY-Z also called on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Ellison to “do the right thing” and “prosecute all those responsible for the murder of George Floyd to the fullest extent of the law.”
See Bey’s post below.
