Lewis Hamilton ‘completely overcome with rage’ following George Floyd’s death
Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25 after being arrested by a police officer who pinned the unarmed 46-year-old to the ground for several minutes by kneeling on his neck.
“This past week has been so dark,” Hamilton wrote on social media.
“I have failed to keep hold of my emotions. I have felt so much anger, sadness and disbelief in what my eyes have seen.
“I am completely overcome with rage at the sight of such blatant disregard for the lives of our people. The injustice that we are seeing our brothers and sisters face all over the world time and time again is disgusting, and MUST stop.”
The six-time Formula One world champion called on the “biggest stars” of his sport who “stay silent in the midst of injustice,” and said in a separate post that he “do[es] not stand with those looting and burning buildings but those who protest peacefully.”
F1 has since released a post saying it “stand[s] with all those fighting against racism in any form,” and several drivers have also spoken out.
“Unfortunately, America is not the only place where racism lives and we continue to fail as humans when we cannot stand up for what is right,” Hamilton’s post released on Tuesday continued.
“Please do not sit in silence, no matter the colour of your skin. Black Lives Matter.”