It’s been three years since George Floyd was handcuffed, pinned to the ground, and killed during an arrest in Minneapolis.
A video of the incident resulted in protests across the country, including one in Perry Square.
We stopped by UPMC Hamot where staff members gathered to remember that day.
Dozens of nurses, doctors and other hospital staff gathered in the facility’s front lawn for the anniversary of the incident that claimed George Floyd’s life.
UPMC Hamot observed White Coats Against Racism and Injustice.
Staff knelt for 9 minutes and 29 seconds to represent how long George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was pinned to the ground by Minneapolis police officers during an arrest.
“We’re here to foster diversity and inclusion not only in our hospital with our UPMC family here, but in our community,” said Gregory Beard, vice president of medical affairs at UPMC Hamot.
Beard said this has been very important to them for many years and wishes to be supportive however they can.
“When this unfortunate incident first happened, we were able to get a large crowd together obviously at that point in time that was right around the area of the pandemic and we all had to have social distancing and masking and we again try to do this every year because this is a central event for the nation,” Beard said.
This remembrance was emotional for some staff members, as some have encountered prejudice firsthand.
“I am a person who has experienced racism and I’m not shocked that it still exists,” said Jamie Fletcher-Pugh, a lab tech at UPMC Hamot. “We’re too far in the game now to still be having issues and problems so nine minutes is not even enough but it’s a start.”
Hospital staffers that participated in the remembrance told us that the end of racism is long overdue.
“I just can’t believe it’s still around. I could see it in my grandparents age a little bit, but it’s been a long time and I can’t believe anyone is still racist at all,” said Robin Brown, blood bank supervisor at UPMC Hamot.
Participants also explained that this was an experience like no other.
“It felt like we were down there for all day so that’s just unacceptable. Let’s just all learn from this and do better as a community,” Fletcher-Pugh went on to say.
Staff members said it’s important to learn from this so an incident like this never happens again.