Thursday 4 June 2020 07:19, UK
Golden State Warriors stars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson joined several of their team-mates on Wednesday in a peaceful march along Oakland’s Lake Merritt, calling for change in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
Warriors swingman Juan Toscano-Anderson organized the 'Walking in Unity' event, which drew several hundred marchers. Warriors players Kevon Looney and Damion Lee also participated.
"No matter the colour of your skin, how much money you got, your education, it don't matter. We're all human beings," Toscano-Anderson said at the beginning of the event in a video posted to the team's Twitter account. "We're all here for the same purpose."
"We're all here for the same purpose, not just for black people," Toscano-Anderson said at the outset of the protest in a video on the team's Twitter account. "Right now it's about black people, but for humanity. There's people all over the world being oppressed. And we're just trying to take a step in the right direction and start something - me and my boys, my brothers. Thank you guys for being here."
In a separate video, somebody could be heard shouting, "Say his name." Curry responds "George Floyd," along with other protesters. Floyd, who is black, was killed May 25 when former Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
Chauvin, who was taken into custody last week and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, was also charged with second-degree murder on Wednesday. Three other former Minneapolis police officers were charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony, and with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
All were in custody as of early Wednesday evening, according to multiple reports.
