George Floyd's younger brother Terrance Floyd has suggested that the violence at some of the protests against police brutality is "overshadowing what is going on." In an interview with ABC News, Floyd spoke about the response to his brother's murder, and how he's been coping since losing him to police brutality.
He called his brother a "gentle giant" who always wanted "peace," often choosing to look at the "brighter side" of life. "When you spoke to him, he always wanted to motivate you, no matter what you was going through," he said. When asked whether he was concerned about some of the protests turning violent, he said he understands the frustration and anger but would prefer demonstrations be kept peaceful.
"I do feel like it's overshadowing what's going on because, like I said, he was about peace he was about unity," he replied. "The things that's transpiring now, they may call it unity but it's destructive unity. It's not what he was about. That's not what my brother was about. ... It's OK to be angry, but channel your anger to do something positive or make a change another way because we've been down this road already. The anger ... damaging your hometown is not the way he'd want."
Floyd was killed during an arrest on May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white officer, kneeled on his neck until he stopped breathing. Speaking on how he's been feeling in the days since his brother's death, Terrance Floyd said, "It's been just devastating, I feel like I'm still a little numb about it."
In a separate interview conducted with ABC News over the weekend, Floyd said, "Sometimes I get angry, I want to bust some heads, too. I wanna ... just go crazy. But I'm here. My brother wasn't about that."
He said that he plans to visit the site of his late brother's death in Minneapolis on Monday. "I just had to come down here, and let people know, just channel your anger elsewhere," he reiterated. "Don't tear up your own town. All of this is not necessary, because if his own family and blood not doing it, why are you? ... So just relax. Justice will be served."
In similiar comments, George Floyd's children, Quincy Mason and Connie Mason Floyd, have both denounced violence at the protests. "The violence is not the right way to do it," Connie said, WGN-TV reports. "Now, this is beautiful, but the violence, it won't solve nothing." The pair moved to Bryan, Texas with their mother over 15 years ago, they said, and they hadn't seen him since they were young.
Quincy added, "Tearing up things, it's not going to solve anything. ... My dad is in peace and we have to be the ones to deal with all this stress. It's going to be tough to get over this day by day."
