Yahoo Movies Dale Murphy says cop shot his son in face with rubber bullet as he peacefully protested George Floyd's death
Dale Murphy says that police in Denver shot his son in the face with a rubber bullet as he protested peacefully over the death of George Floyd.
The seven-time MLB All-Star and Atlanta Braves icon announced the news on Twitter late Sunday, writing that the incident occurred Saturday night.
Last night, my son was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet while peacefully protesting for justice for George Floyd. His story is not unique. Countless others have also experienced this use of excessive police force while trying to have their voices heard.
— Dale Murphy (@DaleMurphy3) June 1, 2020
Murphy then tweeted a photo of his son showing the injury under his left eye.
— Dale Murphy (@DaleMurphy3) June 1, 2020
Denver streets filled with protests
Like in most cities across the United States, Denver saw people take to the streets over the weekend to protest in the aftermath of Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minneapolis.
Video showed former police officer Derek Chauvin kneel on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes during an arrest on a Minneapolis street. Floyd lost consciousness on the street and was pronounced dead at the hospital. Chauvin has since been charged with third-degree murder.
While many of the protests were peaceful, coverage from the weekend focused on nighttime looting and clashes between protestors and law enforcement. Murphy says that police attacked his son during a peaceful protest.
Murphy: Son is OK
Murphy wrote that his son’s eye was saved thanks to the kindness of strangers, one of whom drove him to the emergency room.
“Luckily, his eye was saved due to a kind stranger that was handing out goggles to protestors shortly before the shooting and another kind stranger that drove him to the ER,” Murphy wrote. “Others were not so lucky and will be permanently disabled due to excessive police force.”
He then put his son’s injury in perspective compared to plight of black people in America who have faced police brutality head on.
“As terrible as this experience has been, we know that it's practically nothing compared to the systemic racism and violence against Black life that he was protesting in the first place,” Murphy wrote. “Black communities across America have been terrorized for centuries by excessive police force.”
Murphy played 18 MLB seasons, with all seven of his All-Star nods arriving in a 14-year stint with the Braves from 1976-89. He concluded his career in 1993 with the Colorado Rockies.
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