George Floyd's death: Faith leaders call for prayer amid violent unrest in Minneapolis

Pastors and faith leaders are calling for prayer and expressing outrage and grief following the death of a black Minneapolis man in police custody Monday.

George Floyd, 46, died after Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, pinned his neck to the pavement with his knee for several minutes. Floyd is captured on video saying repeatedly that he could not breathe.

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"I am disturbed, brokenhearted, and deeply grieved when I see and read that another black man's sacred life has been unjustly snuffed out," said Marshal Ausberry, SBC first vice president and president of the National African American Fellowship of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"The life of George Floyd was ended by those charged to protect and serve. They became judge, jury and executioner."

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In a video shot by a bystander, after about eight minutes in the hold, Floyd's body goes limp and unresponsive before he is placed on a stretcher and put into an ambulance.

"You cannot talk to any African American young person, especially male, who will not have a story about their interactions with police," Hans Lee, pastor of Calvary Lutheran Church, located a block from the intersection where Floyd died, told USA Today.

One of Floyd's childhood friends, Jonathan Veal, expressed his grief to a local FOX-TV affiliate. He said his friend was in Minnesota for a Christian program to help advance his career and grow in his faith to "become a better man."

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Alongside Veal, Clarence Hill, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, told FOX 25: "If we just send a little statement and are just excited in this moment, but we don’t do anything in-between tragedies, then we’re not doing what it takes to see change."

Nick Hall, the founder of Minneapolis-based PULSE and host of Fox Nation's "Bible Quarantine" series, quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in his plea for justice and peace: "A riot is the language of the unheard."

"Please pray for Minneapolis. Our city is hurting after the unjust death of George Floyd, and many are taking their anger to the streets in ways that are destructive, and causing further harm. I hurt for those afraid and upset, discriminated against, and marginalized for too long," Hall wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.

"As a white man, I will never understand what it’s like to be followed in a store or afraid for my loved ones being mistreated because of the color of their skin. But that doesn’t mean I can’t speak up, pray, lend a hand, and do whatever I can to work toward justice, unity, equity, and peace."

"God, please no more death!" Hall wrote, calling for prayer for the mayor, governor, police, first repsonders, elected officials, "for the safety of those protesting, and for those seeking to protect and serve. ... Pray that the Church of the Twin Cities will rise up and lead in this time, and that this will bring about change from within."

The Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement released Monday that officers were responding to a report of forgery and that Floyd "physically resisted officers." On Tuesday, the four officers involved were fired, and on Wednesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for Chauvin's arrest.

Floyd's death sparked national outrage and inflamed tensions locally, as thousands marched at the scene of the incident and others protested, rioted and looted Wednesday night.

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Local pastors are leading congregations in prayer and trying to find the best way to respond.

"It's so fresh," Chris Reinertson, director of missions for the Twin Cities Baptist Association in Bloomington, Minn., who pastor Southside Baptist Church, told the Baptist Press. "And, of course, we want to help people connect with Christ, and that deals with all of the situation at hand. ... Don't ever think I'm saying this is a fresh racial issue. I'm saying this African American man, George Floyd, being arrested and then the white police officer putting his knee right on his neck -- that specific incident. I'm not talking, 'Oh, this is the first incidence of racism.'"

John Gray, pastor of Relentless Church in Greenville, S.C., called the incident "reprehensible for one reason ... the face of the officer, he had no empathy for the humanity of this man. He did not care about his cries. He called for his mama and it still wasn't enough for you to offer humanity to another human being."

He added: "To say nothing about race...class...abuse of power...the systemic abuse of power that has festered from 16919 until right now... the apathetic of the evangelical church and the martyrdom that the black church has had to endure since post-reconstruction through Jim Crow, Civil Rights, and even into today, and I am tired."

Christian music artist Matthew West, who watched part of the video, called it "wrong and evil on every level."

Sheryl Brady, pastor of the Potter’s House in North Dallas, said she was appalled and called for action.

"I’m tired of this and it needs to change," Brady said on Facebook Live. "And I think we all need to speak up and speak out. What we saw was the actual life squeezed out of this man who was laying on the ground by an officer who put his knee and his body weight in the neck of a man who was pleading for mercy."

Christine Caine, founder of A21, an international anti-human trafficking organization, and Propel, a women's organization, said it changed her perspective on issues like this one.

“I used to see videos like this and think to myself, ‘Let’s wait for all the details to come out.’ Now after seeing too many videos like this to name I’m beginning to wonder if my response should have been, ‘Maybe I should try to understand their pain,’” Caine tweeted. “Sometimes we can be so blinded by our experience & reality that we invalidate someone else’s. Today our black brothers & sisters are experiencing another trauma that communicates to them that their lives aren’t valuable.”

Carl Lentz, Hillsong Church pastor in New York City, said, in part: "We will not accept media, that continually spins this narrative away from what it is. And we cannot accept silence, from anybody claiming they care. Somebody said to me today 'America is at a breaking point.' My hope is that we are at a 'breakTHROUGH' point. Because it’s been broken racially, for too long. God, help us."

The FBI is aiding the investigation into Floyd's death, which immediately drew comparisons to the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who died in 2014 in New York City after he was placed in a chokehold by police and pleaded for his life, saying, “I can’t breathe.”

Jentezen Franklin, pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia, tweeted it's good the FBI is investigating the case: "But let's be clear: this should not happen in America to begin with! Enough is enough. The investigation should be expeditious, thorough, impartial & justice must be done."

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The Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, wrote: "When will this stop? When every single God-fearing American rises up to condemn this behavior and demand justice. Stop this, NOW!"

Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, said silence is not an option.

"We cannot ignore the tragic death of George Floyd. The brokenness of a sinful world and violent humans cannot be tolerated," Graham tweeted. "We condemn hate in all its forms and stand together to end injustice. For the love of God."