Chiefs’ Butker on George Floyd’s death, riots: ‘We need to be able to love one another’
Like many around the country, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is fully aware of the current civil unrest in Minneapolis and around the nation.
The city has experienced riots, including looting, in the four days since the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died at a hospital shortly after being physically detained by police.
Butker said during a Friday afternoon video call that he hasn’t talked to any of his teammates about the situation, but he conveyed his own thoughts when asked about what has erupted in Minneapolis and beyond.
“It’s super sad,” Butker said. “I can’t even get through that whole video. It’s very heartbreaking.”
The incident, which occurred last Sunday, was captured on video and shared across multiple social media platforms. In the video, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, is shown kneeling for several minutes with his knee on the neck of Floyd, who was in a prone position and repeatedly said he was having trouble breathing.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo on Tuesday fired Chauvin along with three other officers present on the scene. On Friday, Chauvin was arrested and charged with charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Butker said he found out about Chauvin’s arrest through a tweet.
“I think the biggest thing is bringing justice to those, the perpetrators,” Butker said. “It’s just an unfortunate situation, but that’s what we’re dealing with in our society right now. I think we have to figure out ways to hold people accountable and it is very sad.”
The Chiefs kicker finished his thoughts with a message of faith with a view toward coming together to help solve the social-injustice issues evident in Minneapolis and across the country.
“Obviously, I’d love to live in a world where that type of injustice wasn’t going on,” Butker said. “But at the end of the day, I think we’re all sinful people and we need God in our lives. And we need to be able to love one another as brothers, as members of the human race.”
Butker’s thoughts mirrored those of many other athletes and retired athletes across the sports world as shared on social media in recent days. Among them: former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky, who earlier Friday tweeted a call for understanding.
Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu then quote-tweeted Orlovsky’s post with a two-word response: “Real talk.”
This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 4:33 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Butker on George Floyd’s death, riots: ‘We need to be able to love one another’."
