Although few in the golf world have had anything to say on the death of George Floyd, Tiger Woods broke his silence via Twitter on Monday night.
“My heart goes out to George Floyd, his loved ones and all of us who are hurting right now,” Woods said. “I have always had the utmost respect for our law enforcement. They train so diligently to understand how, when and where to use force. This shocking tragedy clearly crossed that line.”
Floyd’s death, ruled a homicide on Monday by a county medical examiner and by an independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd’s family, has sparked outrage nationwide. A bystander’s video that showed now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin holding his knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes has circulated widely since Floyd’s Memorial Day death.
Chavin has since been arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, though Floyd’s family wants the former officer charged with first-degree murder. Family attorney Ben Crump on Monday again called for peace.
Woods’ niece, Cheyenne Woods, spoke to Golfweek’s Beth Ann Nichols about the incident in a story that ran on Sunday.
“Just thinking about (George Floyd) again gives me goosebumps and chills. This is a tough reality of what’s going on in our country,” Cheyenne Woods said. “It’s a storyline and it’s a tragedy that has happened way too many times in all of the history of society, but now again it’s being filmed and being broadcast on social media, so it is spreading.”
USA Today contributed to this report.
