A New Jersey Department of Corrections Officer has been suspended after a video showing him and a group of other men mocking George Floyd during a Black Lives Matter march.
The incident happened Monday at a rally that took place in the Franklinville section of Franklin Township.
According to videos posted on social media, a group of protesters was marching down the street chanting the name “George Floyd,” while carrying anti-police brutality signs. Floyd was a black man who died after an encounter with a white Minneapolis police officer last month.
As the group marched down the street with a police escort, a group of what appears to be four or five men stood off to the side in a counter protest to the movement. The display had President Donald Trump and American flags and a sign that read “All Lives Matter.”
One of the men in the counter protest is seen kneeling on the neck of another member of the group. This is a reference to how Floyd died.
Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is facing murder charges after he allegedly knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes. Three other officers are also facing charges related to the death.
The Franklin Township Police Department denounced the display at the Franklinville rally.
Photos: Protests Take Place Across New Jersey
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“The Franklin Township Committee and the Franklin Township Police Department are appalled and saddened by the revolting actions of certain individuals after Monday’s locally organized peaceful march. This is not who we are as a Community,”
officials posted on Facebook. “We support the goal of this march, which is to spread awareness and to ensure a better future for all of us. Without an understanding and mutual respect for all individuals, we can never aspire to create a united community based upon the idea of human respect and dignity for all.”
Gov. Phil Murphy also condemning the act, writing on Twitter “Mocking George Floyd’s murder in effort to belittle the calls for justice from our Black and Brown communities is repugnant. I condemn this behavior in the strongest terms possible. We won’t let the actions of a few distract from our progress toward dismantling systemic racism.”
A FedEx employee has also been suspended for also participating in the display mocking Floyd. The names of the counter protesters have not been officially released.