On his Facebook profile, the cover photo represents this now famous urban fresco with the face and name of George Floyd. A tribute among hundreds of thousands of others. But Mahmoud Abumayyaleh feels personally concerned by the death of the 46-year-old African American, asphyxiated by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer in Minneapolis (United States). Because it was in his store that everything started on this fatal May 25.
It was one of his employees who called the police because Georges Floyd had handed over a seemingly counterfeit $ 20 bill, which triggered the brutal and fatal arrest. Inevitably, Mahmoud Abumayyaleh saw it badly, divided between pain, regret and anger.
"We are deeply saddened and scandalized by what happened to George Floyd outside our store," reacted the merchant in a message posted on Facebook on May 31, expressing his sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victim. In the name of Cup Foods, the store run by his family in Minneapolis for almost thirty years and where he has always worked. A business, located at the corner of 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, where you can find food, telephone, T-shirts and tobacco.
At around 8 p.m. on May 25, George Floyd apparently wanted to buy cigarettes from Cup Foods. The forties, who has just lost his job as a security guard because of the Covid-19, hands over a 20 dollar bill. Obviously, a fake. Ink was leaking, according to testimony reported by the "New York Times". Facing this customer, a store employee dials 911.
"If I would have been here the authorities would not have been called": Mahmoud Abumayyaleh on the killing of George Floyd, which happened outside his store https://t.co/YeYoM9j5xq
- The Cut (@TheCut) June 2, 2020“In the state of Minnesota, there is a policy that requires stores to call the police in the event of counterfeit tickets. It is a common practice, "explains Mahmoud, who was absent that day unlike his nephew and a clerk. Notifying the police therefore meant following the protocol. Simply. On the phone, officers asked lots of questions about the profile of the man with the apparent counterfeit bill. The employee then allegedly spoke of a “tall”, “bald”, but also “drunk” man. "Black," he finally said at the insistence of his interlocutor.
A patrol is sent to Cup Foods. Georges Floyd is apprehended outside the store. He allegedly refused to get into the police car on the grounds that he was claustrophobic and threw himself on the ground. Derek Chauvin will immobilize the handcuffed suspect, then crush his knee against his neck, deaf to the pleas of George Floyd who lacked air and was dying. The whole world knows the tragic outcome of this police intervention.
He no longer wants to cooperate with the police
The drama, born out of a minor incident, "devastated" Mahmoud: "The police ended George Floyd's life for a counterfeit ticket. It is likely that George did not even know he was at the start. We are deeply saddened for our share of this tragedy. Because the trader feels almost responsible for this call - however compulsory - to the police, which led to a series of events with a dramatic end.
Newsletter - The essentials of the news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
"By following the procedure, we endanger our communities," he notes on Facebook, warning that he will no longer follow this protocol. "Until the police stop killing innocent people, we will deal with incidents like this ( Editor's note: the alleged forgery ) using non-violent tactics that do not involve the police," said Mahmoud. For these incidents, he no longer wants to cooperate with the police who "do more harm than good".
On the facts themselves, the boss of the Cup Foods denounces the disproportionate use of force used by the agents. He reports through his nephew that George Floyd never showed resistance, and that his parent and employee tried to intervene, but was rejected by one of the police.
VIDEO. Four police officers sacked after death of black man during arrest
Mahmoud Abumayyaleh also recalls that this affair with the police, "supposed to protect and serve their communities and not abuse their power and betray people's trust", is not an isolated incident. "They have shown it many times, they do not know how to peacefully manage conflicts in our community," he added in his post.
Since the tragedy, the trader, who has multiplied interviews with the American media, has received (moral) support from many anonymous people. In Minneapolis, he was even applauded after taking his stand. For his part, he announced that his family would contribute financially to the funeral of George Floyd, scheduled in a few days.
