Dr. Dre, speaking about the death of George Floyd, held nothing back in speaking about his anguish over the intent in which the 46-year-old restaurant security guard died after since-fired police officer Derek Chauvin held him down with a knee to the back of his neck.
‘It felt like that cop had his knee on all of our necks, meaning black men,’ the Compton, California native told Lil Wayne on the rapper’s Apple Music program Young Money Radio. ‘And yeah, it’s extremely painful; it’s extremely painful because it keeps going on.
‘It continues to go on and it’s like, what can we do, or what do we need to do to make this thing stop? What is supposed to happen to make this thing stop? It has to stop.’
The latest: Dr. Dre, speaking about the death of George Floyd, held nothing back in speaking about his anguish over the intent in which the 46-year-old restaurant security guard died after since-fired police officer Derek Chauvin held him down with a knee to the back of his neck
The former N.W.A. member, 55, said that Chauvin and the other three police officers with him in the incident were ‘so brazen with it,’ as it occurred in ‘broad daylight, with cameras on.
‘He’s got his knee on this guy’s neck for that amount of time and he doesn’t give a f***,’ said the music mogul, whose real name is Andre Young. ‘His hand is in his pocket. He may as well have been whistling.’
The Beats by Dr. Dre mogul said the officers involved in the incident are ‘supposed to be arrested and convicted of first-degree murder – point blank, period,’ adding that he thinks ‘something is going to happen now, to at least put us in the area where we can start talking about a way to make this thing stop.
‘I’m seeing white people out there protesting as well, which is a good thing.’
Point of view: The former N.W.A. member, 55, said that Chauvin and the other three police officers with him in the incident were ‘so brazen with it,’ as it occurred in ‘broad daylight, with cameras on
His take: The Beats by Dr. Dre mogul said the officers involved in the incident are ‘supposed to be arrested and convicted of first-degree murder – point blank, period’
Lil Wayne said that protesters are clearly ‘fed up’ with what they’ve been seeing: ‘Any decent-hearted human being, I think they’re all fed up. We’re all fed up.’
The Still D.R.E. rapper responded, ‘Any decent human being should see that and go, “F*** this – enough is enough.’
Floyd, 46, died Monday after police officer Derek Chauvin – who has since been fired and charged in the incident – kneeled on the back of his neck (while he was handcuffed), rendering him unable to breathe in a horrifying incident that was caught on camera.
Winds of change: The rapper said he thinks ‘something is going to happen now, to at least put us in the area where we can start talking about a way to make this thing stop
In the system: Chauvin faces charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter
In the incident, arresting officers said Floyd matched the description of a forgery suspect, and subsequently resisted them when they took him into custody. In an accompanying clip, Chauvin had his knee dug into the back of Floyd’s neck as he pleaded, ‘Please, please, please, I can’t breathe. Please, man … my stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts … I can’t breathe’ before passing out.
Floyd, a Minneapolis man who worked as a restaurant security guard, later died in police custody in a nearby hospital.
Chauvin faces charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter; the trio of officers he was with, who were also fired, haven’t been charged in connection with the incident.
In the wake of the jarring sequence of events, riots began in Minnesota and spread both nationwide and internationally, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets, even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The incident has drawn parallels to the Los Angeles riots of 1992 which broke out after police were acquitted in their trial over the beating of Rodney King, which was caught on video camera. In the five days of rioting, more than 60 people died, 2,000-plus were hurt and damages to property topped $1 billion.