Friends of man killed after arrest travel to Minnesota

Cal Wayne, a Houston hip-hop artist who chronicles the hardscrabble life in the city's third ward, says George Floyd was his personal superhero.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man whose recorded death while being detained and kneeled upon by a white Minneapolis police officer, inspired Wayne to drive up north to join in protest.

"We used to watch all of his football games and everything," Wayne said of Floyd, who played tight end and, according to friends, was a basketball stand out.

Wayne joined his friends Michael Staley and Kendall Jones in a convoy of more than two dozen people who grew in and around the Cuney Homes public housing projects.

Staley, standing at a public basketball court, gestured to hoop and rim he said Floyd broke many times while dunking.

"He was just a big hearted guy and he always stood for something. And that's why I wanna stand for him," Staley said.

Jones, standing outside a corner store Floyd was known to visit and socialize outside of, said he also looked up to his friend as more of a big brother.

Jones, a barber, said he was the only one Floyd trusted with his haircuts and grooming.

He said the group of friends want to put a Houston face on the call for justice for the four police officers involved in the incident connected to Floyd's death on Monday.

Jones said the police officers should face criminal charges.

"All four of them need to be held accountable because, at the end of the day, if you think about it, if you in the car and three other guys are with you and you commit a crime, that law is all four of you are gonna be prosecuted with the same case," Jones said, alluding to a Texas criminal charge that can be used to inactive parties to a crime.

(Representative Image)(Image Credit Pixabay)