Cop hits Insecure actor Kendrick Sampson with a baton on TV as celebrities join nationwide protests
The streets of cities across the country last night were filled with demonstrators rallying together to protest the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 (while police officers apparently drove vehicles into crowds of them), and though a number of celebrities already used their social media platforms to speak out against racial injustice and police brutality, others actually joined in on the protests to either lend their voices or document what they were seeing. As reported by Variety, Insecure actor Kendrick Sampson attended a protest in Los Angeles on Saturday and could be seen in the background of a CNN shot being hit by police officer with a baton. He also explained in an Instagram video that he had attended a “peaceful” and “powerful” rally and intended to go home after, but when he saw that the police—in full riot gear, based on the videos—were starting to get more aggressive, he chose to stay.
He says he was shot by four rubber bullets, as was How To Get Away With Murder actor Matt McGorry, who posted video on Instagram of him being shot by the LAPD with “some projectile” (as he describes it). Billboard has compiled videos from other protests, including Nick Cannon in Minneapolis with a shirt saying “Please I Can’t Breathe” written on it—George Floyd’s last words, as seen in the widely circulated video showing a cop pinning him to the ground with his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes.
In Chicago, John Cusack spent last night documenting how the police in his city—which instituted a curfew and then promptly raised the bridges over the Chicago River, stranding many protestors—handled its own demonstrators. He posted a video on Twitter in which you can hear an officer screaming at him to move, followed by a series of whacks that he says are from the cop hitting his bike with a baton. (Obviously a bike getting hit by a baton isn’t a big deal, but we’re including this to illustrate how he was treated versus how others were treated.)
Looking for ways to advocate for black lives? Check out this list of resources by our sister site Lifehacker for ways to get involved