Death of George Floyd: Coco Gauff wonders if she "will be next"

The death of George Floyd continues to severely agitate the United States. And athletes are not the last to react. "Am I next?": The announced American tennis star Coco Gauff added his voice on Friday to those of the sports world outraged since Monday by the death of a black man during his arrest in Minneapolis. Appearing his head under a hood, serious look facing the camera, in a video broadcast on the social network TikTok, Gauff wonders in silence with these words in subtitles: "I use my voice to fight against racism. Will you use yours? ” After which scroll photos of Floyd and other black victims of racist crimes. 

We recognize in particular Ahmaud Arbery, the jogger killed on February 23 in Brunswick in Georgia by a father and his son or even Breonna Taylor, an emergency medical worker of 26 years, killed at her home by the police who had barged in. her in Kentucky in March. At the end of the sequence, the 16-year-old young woman raises both hands as these words appear in conclusion: "Am I next?" 

LeBron James and Magic Jonhson in support

Coco Gauff, revealed, spent it at Wimbledon where she beat Venus Williams in the first round before being eliminated in the round of 16, is the last athlete on a long list to have expressed their indignation. From NBA stars LeBron James and Magic Johnson to former NFL attraction Colin Kaepernick, others have spread the same message. 

Arrested by police on suspicion of having wanted to forge a counterfeit 20-dollar bill, 46-year-old George Floyd was tackled to the ground by an officer who kept his knee on his neck for long minutes. "I can't breathe anymore," we hear him say on a recording of the scene. 

Since then, tension has continued to mount in the United States, with mounting protests in the country, while riots have broken out in Minneapolis (north). Of the four police officers involved in the dismissal of Floyd, only Derek Chauvin, who supported his knee on the victim's neck, was arrested on Friday, charged with manslaughter. 

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