Kendrick Sampson, an American actor best known for his roles in shows like The Flash and Insecure, was fired at with rubber bullets by policemen when he partook in protests in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon.
The civil unrest, which has since spread to other cities, including New York, Atlanta, Nashville and Chicago, is a response to the choking of George Floyd, an African American man whose slow and gruesome death at the hands of the officers who apprehended him for passing and possessing an insignificant amount of counterfeit currency, was caught on camera and has since become the epicenter of both American news and social life.
The actor was filming the events going on in downtown LA for his Instagram account when police forces barraged him with rubber bullets. The shooting, which was simultaneously caught on cameras by CNN, is only one of many incidents of authorities using excessive force to disperse protesters. According to actor John Cusack, who also sought to document the protests, police forces have made use of pepper spray and tear gas, too.
“They shot me four times already. I already got hurt and I got hit with a baton,” Sampson said. “Y’all ain’t see no police f—ing up white folks when they took guns to the statehouse. Y’all didn’t see police attacking white folks, beating em up with batons, shooting them with rubber bullets when they brought guns to f—ing state houses. We came up here with no weapons, with masks.… And we’re the ones who are not peaceful.”
Kendrick Sampson and Cusack are not the only celebrities who’ve gotten involved with the protests. Numerous other prominent Americans, including singers Ariana Grande and Halsey, as well as rapper Machine Gun Kelly, have been found in the street. Meanwhile, many of their showbiz colleagues, like talk show host Oprah Winfrey and pop star Beyoncé, are using their influence to aid the movement through social media.
In one especially extensive move, late night host Jimmy Kimmel implored his followers to remember these incidents come next election, and use their sentiment to vote President Donald Trump, whose outrageous and careless comments – including a recent one in which he gave cops permission to shoot civilians – have further divided the country along lines of race and power, out of office.