BOSTON (WHDH) - Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross and Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins joined the call for justice in George Floyd’s death as protests broke out in Boston and across the country.
Dozens of people gathered in Dorchester’s Ashmont neighborhood on Thursday in a show of solidarity for Floyd’s family. Floyd died while in police custody after an officer knelt on his neck while he pleaded for air on Monday.
“I”m heartbroken every day. I’m exhausted, I’m tired, I’m angry, I’m frustrated. There has to be change,” demonstrator Jared Hicks said.
Dan Luaer, another demonstrator, added that, “the police officer that killed him should be in jail right now.”
Gross took to Twitter Thursday morning, writing his condolences for the Floyd family and supporting the Minneapolis police chief’s decision to fire the officers involved.
“My sympathy and condolences to the family of George Floyd who died after an encounter with Minneapolis Police Officers,” he wrote. “I support the decision of Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo to terminate the four officers involved. Mr. Floyd’s death is a damned SHAME! God Bless him.”
Gross added during a press conference at Boston City Hall later that day that the force used by one of the officers on Floyd went too far.
“There is nowhere in any of our training manuals where kneeling on someone’s neck is a proper procedure,” he said.
Rollins also spoke out against the force used during Floyd’s apprehension by police.
“If that person was not a member of law enforcement, none of us would be questioning whether or not this was an intentional killing,” she said. “Your job should not absolve you from responsibility if you break the law.”
Along with Boston, protests have erupted in other major cities, including New York City and Denver.
Some of these demonstrations have turned destructive, like in Minneapolis, where protesters torched a police station.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)