Mississippi mayor under fire over comments on George Floyd's death
A Mississippi mayor is under fire for comments about the in-custody death of George Floyd, including his remark, “if you can talk, you can breathe.”
Floyd, 46, who was black, died in Minneapolis police custody after a white officer pinned him to the ground and put his knee on his neck for about eight minutes. Video footage shows him saying "I can't breathe" while on the ground.
Hal Marx, mayor of Petal, about 90 miles southeast of Jackson, weighed in on the video and the widespread criticism of officers involved, tweeting on Tuesday, “Why in the world would anyone choose to become a #PoliceOfficer in our society today?”
Marx, who could not immediately be reached by NBC News on Thursday morning, said he “didn’t see anything unreasonable” in the video that led to the firing of four Minneapolis police officers on Tuesday, and that the cops involved are being “crucified.”
“If you say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing. Most likely that man died of overdose or heart attack,” Marx wrote with no evidence, following up with another tweet that said “officers were not restricting his breathing.”
Marx was quickly criticized on social media. Offensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts Javon Patterson tweeted, “You know as a former resident of Petal ... this is truly disturbing to see. To know that a leader of community feels right even posting this.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/mississippi-mayor-under-fire-over-comments-george-floyd-s-death-n1216341?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma
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