Pressley: Black men ‘deserve to grow old’

Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley (Mass.) tweeted a somber message after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday of murdering George Floyd.

Floyd was killed last May after being stopped by police outside of a Minneapolis convenience store. His death, at the hands of Chauvin, sparked nationwide protests that helped spark the Black Lives Matter.

In a tweet sent shortly after the jury’s verdict was read, Pressley wrote, “Black men, I love you, and you deserve to grow old.”

Black men, I love you, and you deserve to grow old.

— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) April 20, 2021

Pressley was one of the members of the Congressional Black Caucus who authored a resolution to condemn police brutality and the excessive use of force against African Americans. The measure was introduced the same day that Chauvin was charged over the death of Floyd last year.

“For too long, Black and brown bodies have been profiled, surveilled, policed, lynched, choked, brutalized and murdered at the hands of police officers,” Pressley said in a statement at the time.

She contineud, “There can be no justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, or any of the human beings who have been killed by law enforcement, for in a just world, they would still be alive. There must, however, be accountability.”