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Petal mayor says he won’t resign over controversial George Floyd tweets

Petal, Mississippi, Mayor Hal Marx is facing blowback for a series of tweets he wrote about the death of a Minneapolis man at the hands of police.
Thursday, the town’s aldermen asked Marx for his resignation after his tweets about the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis went viral.
Floyd, a 46-year-old African American, died Monday after white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin restrained him during an arrest by kneeling on his neck.
In his tweets, Marx consistently backed the police in the death, even in the face of the police video showing Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck while Floyd repeatedly says, “I can’t breathe.”
“Why in the world would anyone choose to become a #PoliceOfficer in our society today? #backtheblue #ThinBlueLine,” Marx wrote in a tweet Tuesday. (His Twitter account has since been deleted.)
“Would be nice to get a few in there that understand reasonable force, when it’s needed, and don’t give the rest of them a bad reputation,” someone tweeted in response.
“If you are talking about the incident in MN, I didn’t see anything unreasonable,” Marx replied. ‘If you can say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing. Most likely that man died of overdose or heat attack. Video doesn’t show his resistance that got him in that position. Police being crucified.”
“Since we don’t know the full story of what happened before the video started, it’s impossible to know why the police remained in that position,” Marx continued. “Again, the officers were not restricting his breathing.”
Outraged Petal residents confronted Marx during a special meeting Thursday, demanding he step down from his office.
So far, Marx has refused to comply.
George Floyd’s death has sparked days of violence and looting in Minneapolis. Protests against what many see as police brutality and historical injustices have been seen in countless cities across the nation. While many of the protests were peaceful, some became violent.
Thursday night, seven people were shot in Louisville, Kentucky, in a protest over the March death of Breonna Taylor, 26, an African American woman shot and killed by police in her apartment. All of the shooting victims are “stable and recovering,” according the city’s mayor.
Gunfire also erupted in Denver protests although no one was hit. In Phoenix, police pelted protesters with rubber bullets and pepper spray.
The Associated Press reports protesters smashed windows, torched a police car and pelted police with bottles in Atlanta Friday night.
In Mississippi, protests were held in Jackson and in Petal.
Small protest here at the Capitol. Comments of ‘George Floyd was murdered’ and ‘White Supremacy is everywhere’. @WJTV pic.twitter.com/cSaYMKgdsh
— Gerald Harris (@GeraldHarrisTV) May 29, 2020
At the request of President Donald Trump, the Pentagon has troops ready to deploy to Minneapolis if necessary. The Minnesota National Guard has activated about 1,700 soldiers to help quell the unrest.
Meanwhile, police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested Friday and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said he also anticipates charges for three other officers who were fired over Floyd’s death, The Washington Post reports.
Chauvin’s wife, Kellie Chauvin, has reportedly filed for divorce.
In the complaint against Chauvin, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner said it has made “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation,” and suggested “coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease” and “potential intoxicants” along with “being restrained by police” all contributed to Floyd’s death.
“The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive,” the complaint states, “Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous.”
“Mr. Floyd said, ’I can’t breathe’ multiple times and repeatedly said, ‘Mama’ and ‘please,’ as well,” the complaint continues. “The defendant and the other two officers stayed in their positions.”
Police took Floyd into custody on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill.
Floyd’s family said it will seek an independent autopsy.
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