Atlanta-born rapper Killer Mike has issued an urgent plea to protesters in his home city.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Atlanta’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms Friday night, the 45-year-old begged those seeking change to stay home and ‘properly plot, plan, strategize, organize and mobilize in an effective way’.
His plea came as hundreds of Atlanta protesters clashed with police officers during demonstrations over the death of black man George Floyd after he was arrested by a white officer.
Rioters looted stores and set fire to several buildings, while a crowd also gathered outside the CNN headquarters where they smashed windows and scrawled graffiti.
Officials are bracing themselves for further protests Saturday evening.
Taking to the microphone, Killer Mike called for calm amidst the chaos, stating: ‘I’m the son of an Atlanta City Police Officer. My cousin is an Atlanta City Police Officer.
‘I got a lot of love and respect for police officers… [but] I watched a white officer assassinate a black man, and I know that tore your heart out.
Atlanta-born rapper Killer Mike issued an urgent plea to protesters in his home city as it descended into chaos Friday night
Hundreds of Atlanta protesters clashed with police officers, while rioters looted stores and set fire to several buildings
‘We have to be better than this moment. We have to be better than burning down our own homes, because if we lose Atlanta, what else we got?’ Killer Mike urged protesters to stay home
A crowd also gathered outside the CNN headquarters where they smashed windows and scrawled graffiti
‘I know it’s crippling, and I have nothing positive to say in this moment because I don’t want to be here. But, I’m responsible to be here because it wasn’t just Doctor King and people dressed nicely who marched and protested to progress this city and so many other cities.
‘It was people like my grandmother, people like my aunts and uncles, who are members of the SCLC and NAACP…. So, I’m duty bound to be here to simply say that it is your duty not to burn your own house down for anger with an enemy.’
Killer Mike recounted his pain at seeing Floyd arrested in Minnesota Monday by white cop Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes before he died.
‘I’m mad as hell… because I’m tired of seeing black men die. He casually put his knee on a human being’s neck for nine minutes as he died like a zebra in the clutch of a lion’s jaw. And, we watch it like murder porn over and over again,’ the star stated.
However, he went on to claim it was ‘the responsibility of us to make this better right now.’
‘We don’t want to see Targets burning. We want to see the system that sets up for systemic racism burnt to the ground,’ he stated.
Killer Mike then urged people to ‘sit in your homes tonight instead of burning your home to the ground, [so] you will have time to properly plot, plan, strategize, and organize and mobilize in an effective way’
‘We have to be better than this moment. We have to be better than burning down our own homes, because if we lose Atlanta, what else we got?’
The rapper concluded: ‘I want you to go home. I want you to talk to 10 of your friends. I want you guys to come up with real solutions’.
George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on Memorial Day as he was arrested by four police officers in Minneapolis. His death has set off nationwide protests
‘We don’t want to see Targets burning. We want to see the system that sets up for systemic racism burnt to the ground’: Killer Mike appeared emotional as he spoke alongside Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (left)
However, he also urged CNN to make changes in light of the protests outside their offices.
‘I love CNN. But, I’d like to say to CNN right now: karma’s a mother. Stop feeding fear and anger every day. Stop making people feel so fearful. Give them hope!’
Meanwhile, Atlanta’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms also pleaded with protesters who not demonstrating peacefully.
‘It’s enough,’ she bluntly declared.
‘We are all angry. This hurts. This hurts everybody in this room. But what are you changing by tearing up a city? You’ve lost all credibility now. This is not how we change America. This is not how we change the world.’
She added: ‘What I see happening on the streets of Atlanta is not Atlanta. This is not a protest. This is not in the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.,’ an impassioned Bottoms said at a news conference. ‘This is chaos.’
hat are you changing by tearing up a city? You’ve lost all credibility now. This is not how we change America. This is not how we change the world