Group of Boston nurses take a knee outside hospital to show support for protesters
Outside of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, a group of nurses gathered and took a knee. The nurses knelt in solidarity with protesters, who are fighting against racial injustice and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd's death.
Several nurses wore black and others held signs made out of cardboard, CBS Boston reports. They took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds – the same amount of time former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck.
The May 25 incident, which was filmed by a bystander, resulted in 46-year-old Floyd's death. Chauvin and three other officers involved were fired and eventually criminally charged. Chauvin was originally charged with third degree-murder last week, but he now faces a new charge of second-degree murder.
The three other officers involved in the arrest — Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng — were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd's death is one of several recent incidents involving African American victims, including the officer-involved death of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky and the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia. Protests have continued to swell since Floyd's death and demonstrations have taken place for more than a week in several U.S. cities.
Floyd will be remembered at a memorial service Thursday afternoon in Minneapolis. Civil rights leader Reverend Al Sharpton and family attorney Benjamin Crump are among the speakers.
The nurses at Brigham and Women's Hospital plan to honor Floyd and show solidarity with protesters again at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The event was organized by the nurses and not the hospital, according to CBS Boston.
