The Players Coalition, an organization co-founded in 2017 by former NFL player Anquan Boldin and Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, became the latest entity on Saturday to issue a statement in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed black man who pleaded for air as a white Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck earlier this week.
The statement, obtained by NFL Network's Jim Trotter, serves as a call to action at the local, state and federal levels for a "transformation and accountability in policing" as it relates to the killing of unarmed black people by the police and prosecution of the officers who are responsible for these deaths.
It reads in part:
"Just like most people following the tragedy that took place in Minneapolis, we found ourselves angered, sad and desperately looking for answers. It seems like every week a new tragedy unfolds before our very eyes, where people are being killed by police violence. Each time, we tweet, we pray, we mourn, only to repeat the cycle a few days later.
"We cannot bring back George Floyd or Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile or Tamir Rice, or any of the others that have lost their lives as a result of police brutality. But we can fight for a better future, for transformation and accountability in policing, to honor their memories. This is a moral imperative, necessary to end generations of trauma inflicted on communities."
The statement can be read in full below.
