“I Can’t Breathe!”: Shock in California over the death of a Hispanic who was subdued by police like George Floyd

“I can not breathe!”, call José Albert Lizárraga García while officers from Indio, California arrested him. The 41-year-old Hispanic died of cardiac arrest during the incident, in a harsh memory of the case. George Floyd.

The events took place on January 22 in the parking lot of a mall on Highway 111 in the California city. According to a police report, agents have arrested Lizárraga García for suspicious behavior entering and exiting various institutions.

A video that came to light a few days ago showed the moment when the police officers struggled with Lizárraga and they put their knees on his back, tried to put some sort of hood over his head, supposedly to protect himself from COVID-19, because the Hispanic spit them out. The person said repeatedly that he could not breathe.

The police report indicated that Lizárraga had a violent attitude and that the officers tried to calm him down before forcibly surrendering him.

The police asked the paramedical team for help because Lizárraga had health problems after the fight. In other images taken by witnesses, specialists are seen massaging the chest of the unconscious person try to revive him.

Police assured it will release the body camera footage in the coming days to ascertain responsibilities.

Following the dissemination of the images, the Latino community in California demanded that the facts be cleared up and a series of vigils were held to escort Lizárraga’s family.

Francisco Ríos, José Albert’s brother, said in an interview with Telemundo that the arrest was brutally carried out and that there were other ways to resolve the conflict.

“It’s very strong images, I can’t imagine people, family, neighbors looking at it and saying it’s fair, the way my brother died, or what’s happening there is justice. There are many more ways they could have done, I see a lot of harm, I don’t think that’s right.

Lizárraga García was four months away from becoming a grandfather, because his daughter Tyanna is pregnant.

“I do everything I can to stay strong … It was very difficult, especially watching the videos and seeing how it happens”Tyanna told the local media. The family launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money and pay funeral expenses.

“Justice for Albert”, It was read on posters that protesters took to Indio City Hall. Many attendees equated the situation with the incident where George Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.

Who was George Floyd and why his death sparked protests in the US

When George Floyd was a tight end for the Jack Yates High School football team in Third Ward, Houston, one of the city’s predominantly African American neighborhoods, his peers saw him as one of the most promising athletes around, one of those who get to dream big.

He scored touchdowns or baskets almost at will, using a talented physique to get professional. So much that his school team reached the 1992 state final and he enjoyed the feeling of playing in a great stadium, the Astrodome. Although he lost that match 38-20 to Temple School, Floyd thought big.

“I remember saying he wanted to conquer the world, make a global impact,” says his sixth grader Jonathan Veal. He still has the image from the first time he saw him: “He was about 12 years old and he was almost six feet tall … I’ve never seen anyone this big. “

Floyd’s height naturally made him tempted by basketball, a sport in which forged friendships with players who would later become known, like former NBA champion Stephen Jackson. The former San Antonio Spurs said they were surprised by the physical resemblance to each other upon meeting. “The first question we asked: ‘Who is your father, who is your father?’ Y From there we said we were twin brothers. We always went out together, every time I went to Houston it was my first stop to pick him up, ”she recalls.

Jackson fulfilled much of the dreams that every young and outstanding athlete in the United States has: he became the champion of the professional league of his specialty when he won the NBA with the Spurs, where he was teammates with the Argentinian Emanuel Ginobili. But Floyd’s story would be different, and fame would reach him in the worst way.

His athletic career, now remembered as a ‘gentle giant’ was reversed at Texas A&M Kingsville University, where he attended after graduating from Jack Yates in 1993. The alumni association and education center have posted condolences following the impact of his death at the hands of a police officer named Derek Chauvin. After handcuffing him, the officer crushed Floyds neck with his right knee until he was out of breath and caused his subsequent death.

“Please join us to keep George Floyd’s family and friends in mind,” reads the university’s message and the Javelina Alumni fraternity retweets, saying, “We offer our deepest condolences to George’s family and friends. Floyd ”, which was part of the institution between 1995 and 1997.

The video His death shocked Minneapolis, then the United States and finally the entire world, as well as provoking a strong popular reaction in the city, leading to looting, racist violence and the burning of a police station on Thursday night.

After the riots, Chauvin’s arrest and charges for third-degree murder plus the curfew imposed on Friday night tried to calm things down. Floyd’s death also sparked the backlash from Donald Trump, the President of the United States, who, after regretting the incident, further fueled controversy with a tweet warning protesters that “When the looting starts, the shooting starts”The message was approved by the social network.

Jail and a “new life” in Minnesota

Christopher Harris, an old friend of Floyd’s, revealed that several years ago Floyd moved to Minneapolis from his native Houston, hoping to find work and rebuild his life at the age of 40. After his frustrations as an athlete, He was charged with armed robbery in 2007 after robbing a home in Houston and in 2009 he was sentenced to five years in prison. as part of a plea deal, according to court documents.

He had a daughter, whose name is unknown, who is now six years old and lives in Houston with her mother, Roxie Washington. Harris said he convinced Floyd to move to Minnesota with some friends in search of work around 2014 after he got out of prison.

Unbelievably, in between his occupations, he met who would later become his murderer. While El Rodeo Club owner Maya Santamaria cannot confirm that they knew each other personally, she does know that she had Floyd as an employee and Police Officer Chauvin as a security guard worked overtime for nearly 17 years.

“I wanted to start over, a new beginning,” Harris said. “He was happy with the change he was making.” Floyd got a security job at a Salvation Army store in downtown Minneapolis. Later he had two jobs, one with trucks and the other as a security guard at Conga Latin Bistro, where he was known as “Big Floyd”. The following photo shows why:

“Always happy”, Jovanni Tunstrom, the restaurant’s owner, remembers him. “He had a good attitude. He danced badly to make people laugh. I tried to teach him to dance because he liked Latin music, but I couldn’t because it was too loud for me. He always called me “Bossman” (boss). I said, ‘Floyd, don’t call me boss. I’m your friend’.”

Floyd was fired when Minnesota restaurants closed as part of the coronavirus pandemic quarantine, I had to stay at home for that. Harris said he spoke to Floyd on Sunday night and gave him the contact details of an employment agency.

“He did whatever it took to get on with his life,” Harris said. He also added that he could not believe that Floyd was resorting to forgery, citing the complaint that led to his arrest. A grocery store owner chose him because he wanted to pay with a $ 20 apocryphal bill. “I never knew he would do such a thing.”

Donnell Cooper, another of Floyd’s former classmate, said he remembered his touchdowns while playing football and said he had a “calm personality, but a beautiful mind.”

“The way he died makes no sense”, Harris complained about his role, which also addressed the violent backlash triggered by the postponement of justice in taking action on the case: those responsible for the offense were not arrested or charged until Friday. He begged for his life. He begged for his life. If you try so hard to trust this system, a system that you know was not designed for you, if you are constantly seeking justice through legal means and cannot get it, you begin to take the law into your own hands. “

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