Online educator, Mike Johnston has openly joined the support for George Floyd - the 46 year-old African-American father-of-two, who died on May 25th whilst under restraint by white Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.
George Floyd’s death occurred during his arrest and was shockingly captured on camera, resulting in mass-riots and looting from supporters of both George Floyd and far-right groups across the US.
Speaking to his 148,000 followers on Instagram, Mike Johnston posted a short video accompanied by a caption reading “I just want to make sure that I’m not being supported by those that I would NEVER support.”
In the video, which you can watch above, Johnston addresses his Instagram followers and paid members to his hugely successful Mikeslessons.com site, with the following plea:
“First of all, to my followers, if you’re someone that thinks that any type of discrimination against any member of the human race is ok, then please unfollow me now. Furthermore, if you’re a paid member of Mikeslessons.com and you think that what happened to George Floyd was justified in any way, shape or form, please email me and I will refund your dues for this month, I will cancel your membership and we will be done. That’s all.“
A further statement from Johnston is posted in the comments section, saying: “It’s not difficult to stand up for what you believe in as much as it’s just so damn hard to accept that it’s real.
I live in Northern CA in a city where I NEVER see/experience this. I’m male, I’m white, I lucked out with amazing parents and role models, and... I’m a musician so I’ve worked WITH people from every race/religion/gender/belief system possible. It’s like living in a lottery bubble.
I can’t pretend to understand what anyone else is going through, but I CAN ask that bigots, racists, sexists and anyone that doesn’t believe in true equality across the board stops supporting me immediately!”
Multiple drummers including Mark Guiliana, Aaron Spears, Stan Bicknell and Carter McLean, voiced their support for the video with positive comments.
Following George Floyd’s death, Derek Chauvin has been fired from his role, arrested and is currently facing charges of third-degree murder as well as manslaughter.
