The moment was recorded by several people from both sides of the protest and posted on social media. “Black life does not matter to anyone,” a protester shouted.
The entire incident lasted one minute and 23 seconds, according to a video posted on social media that CNN got.
The video appears to have been captured by the All Lives Matter demonstrator and shows what was happening before and after the Black Lives Matter rally.
About 20 seconds before the police cars accompanying the Black Life March reach “all spirits” demonstrators, a man lies on the ground. Shortly thereafter, another man knelt on his neck, and began to reenact Floyd’s death.
Other eyewitness videos, taken by Black Lives Matters rallies, capture what happened next.
“I felt something was going on because the officers began to take us to the other side of the street as we were walking near that area,” Russell Sampson, a black life march, told CNN.
Ten seconds after the escorting police cars pass, when the protesters approach, the kneeling man begins to shout at her. “You don’t comply, that’s what’s going on,” he shouts, pointing at protesters to the person below him. “Look … he did not comply! He did not comply. If he had complied, it would not have happened.”
Darian Venal, Daryan Vinal, Franklinville channel’s Black Lives Matter protester, said she felt tears to see her reenactment.
“I saw mothers trying to cover the eyes of their children,” she told CNN in a statement.
“Racism is everywhere, but its display in this horrific and overt way is what surprised me.”
After the protesters pass, the guy who is filming the video begins to comment on the protesters with black spirits.
In the video, “Blacks Live the Matter with One” was heard. “Everything lives. Everything lives. The police live material. God bless the police. God bless the police. You stupid demonstrators.”
Corrections Officer suspended, FedEx employee dismissed
The reenactment sparked quick criticism as the videos were widely posted on social media.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy condemned this behavior, saying that “the mockery of killing Floyd”, “diminishing calls for justice from our black and brown societies is abhorrent.”
After the videos surfaced and anger increased on the Internet, the New Jersey Prison Service said it had suspended an officer who said he was “participating in filming an obnoxious and disappointing video that ridiculed the murder of George Floyd.”
The administration also began conducting a “thorough and prompt” investigation with the officer.
A source familiar with the situation told CNN that the arrested officer was Joseph Demarco, who has been working for NJDOC for at least 18 years. The source said that after having a “conversation” with his union on Tuesday, Demarco retained a private lawyer. According to the source, Di Marco will conduct an interview with the center’s internal affairs this morning.
The source said that a hearing will take place after Internal Affairs makes their recommendations, and then it is decided whether DeMarco is suspended or unpaid.
Multiple calls from CNN to DeMarco not returned.
Local union chief William Sullivan told CNN that the union – which represents about 6,000 correctional police officers in New Jersey – had been informed of the accident around 12:30 pm. On Tuesday after “Summoning a lot of officers, they got upset.”
“We need to continue to practice tolerance and understanding, not discrimination and hatred,” the union said in a statement on its Facebook page. “As a group, we pray for those who are in pain and we are here to help each of them recover.”
FedEx said in a statement that it had fired an employee who claimed to have seen it in the video during the protest.
“FedEx adheres to its team members according to high standards of personal behavior, and we do not tolerate the kind of horrific and abusive behavior depicted in this video. The person in question no longer works at FedEx. We stand with those who support justice and equality,” reads the statement.
CNN continues to attempt to reach out to a previous FedEx employee for comment, as well as a pending corrections officer.
But Diane Finale, Black Lives Matter, says this will not take away its efforts. She says she cannot “see” the reenactment, calling it scary and terrifying. “Despite the horrific accident we have witnessed, I remain optimistic about the future and hope that at least we will reach someone’s heart yesterday,” she said.
Alta Spieles, Taylor Romain and Lauren Del Valle of CNN contributed to this report.
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