Beyoncé demanded justice for George Floyd in a rare social media video statement Saturday.
“We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We’re broken and we’re disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain,” Beyoncé said in the video posted Saturday.
“I’m not only speaking to people of color; if you’re white, black, brown or anything in-between, I’m sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killing of human beings, no more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away. George is all of our family in humanity. He’s our family because he’s a fellow American.”
On Friday, former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin — the man seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes — was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. However, despite the charges, Beyoncé said more must be done.
“There have been too many times that we’ve seen these violent killings and no consequences. Yes, someone’s been charged, but justice is far from being achieved,” Beyoncé continued. “Please sign the petition and continue to pray for peace, compassion and healing for our country.”
The singer directed her 147 million followers to four organizations that are seeking justice for Floyd: change.org, Color of Change, the NAACP and We Can’t Breathe. Fans can also text “FLOYD” to 55156.
Prior to Chauvin’s arrest, the change.org petition gained support from Ariana Grande, Cardi B, Lil Nas X, Jonas Brothers and more. Nearly 7.5 million people have already signed the “Justice for George Floyd” petition, making it the largest petition in the change.org‘s history.
Artists like Billie Eilish and Rihanna similarly turned to social media Saturday to lament Floyd’s killing, while many in the music industry planned to make June 2nd “Black Out Tuesday.”