Los Angeles Police Department allegedly circulate valentine mocking George Floyd
LAPD Valentines Day behavior prompts internal investigation. Pixaby/courtesy.
Outrage is sparking over this past Valentine’s Day weekend towards the LAPD when allegedly an image of a valentine card mocking George Floyd was shared among officers saying, “You take my breath away.”
The Valentine’s Day image prompts an internal investigation within LAPD and any officers involved with creating or sharing the image. This is also provoking outrage from the public, including activists and Floyd’s family.
“If found any employee or supervisor is directed to take possession and identify those present. The Department will have zero tolerance for this type of behavior,” LAPD said in a series of posts on Twitter regarding the matter.
If found any employee or supervisor is directed to take possession and identify those present. The Department will have zero tolerance for this type of behavior.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) February 14, 2021
This was brought to the attention of the LAPD after fellow department employees shared a tip. Soon after LAPD made tweets addressing this matter, it didn’t take long for Floyd’s family and activists to catch wind of it.
The LAPD states that no one has specifically been identified nor if the image was created specifically by an LAPD employee. It is only known that LAPD employees were sharing the image.
At this point the Department has not identified any actual postings in the workplace or identified that it was in fact our department employee who created the image. We have raised the apparent existence of the image and directed commands to survey the worksites for it.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) February 14, 2021
George Floyd was an African-American man who Minneapolis police officer Derek Michael Chauvin killed on May 25, 2020. Chauvin held his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes while Floyd pleaded for him to get off and repeatedly uttered the words “I can’t breathe.”
This is the infamous saying from Floyd used repeatedly during Black Lives Matter protests and has been seen on multiple signs. The incident has added fuel to the fire with protestors and advocates for Black Lives Matter against police departments and officers, especially the LAPD.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón has also stepped forward regarding the inappropriate and despicable valentine image. Najee Ali, a director of Project Islamic Hope and Los Angeles community activist, shared their upset over this matter.
“There’s no room for mocking anyone’s death, especially someone who died at the hands of police in Minnesota,” Ali said in an interview with ABC7. “It’s scary knowing that we have racists who might come into our community and be in charge of policing Black people. It’s scary knowing that people are of that mindset that they can mock someone’s murder. This man had a foot on his neck for over eight minutes and died in the hands of police, and yet someone in the LAPD thinks it’s funny.”
A day that is supposed to be about love ended up being another day that was taken advantage of by LAPD employees, mocking Floyd’s death. Not only has there been an uproar among activists, but social media as well. And the news is spreading like wildfire.
“This is the most cruel/nauseating/disgraceful thing we have ever seen. The LAPD is abhorrent,” said Celeste and Natalie Silverstein, owners and content creators of the political and pop culture Instagram account of @wereleavingearly.
An internal investigation is currently underway to identify all parties involved in creating and sharing the image.
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