Vigil Held In Annapolis Monday For George Floyd

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The community has organized a vigil for Monday at 8:19 p.m. They are asking residents to step outside their homes and "shine a light on racism and injustice" for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, which is how long unarmed Minneapolis resident George Floyd was pinned down by an officer, according to video footage of the arrest.

At a press conference last week, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Timothy Altomare said that "every right-thinking police officer in this country was disgusted by what they saw on that video."

"Human life matters. We exist to protect it," he said. "All 800 of us who wear this patch and badge condemn what we saw. There is no place for that behavior in American policing. We are committed to doing it differently in Anne Arundel County."

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Annapolis last week to protest the death of Floyd. Cell phone video of his arrest showed former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck for several minutes as he pleaded for help, telling Chauvin and other officers he couldn't breathe.