Owner of store that called cops on George Floyd says they won’t call police in similar situations

The owner of the Minneapolis store that called the police on George Floyd over the use of an alleged counterfeit bill said they will no longer call the cops in similar situations.

“Police are supposed to protect and serve their communities; instead, what we’ve seen over and over again is the police abusing their power and violating the people’s trust. We realize now that escalating situations to the police almost always does more harm than good, even for something as harmless as a fake bill,” Mahmoud Abumayyaleh, the owner of Cup Foods, said in a Facebook post Sunday.

Abumayyaleh said that by “simply following procedure” and calling the police over suspected counterfeit bills, the store is putting the community in danger.

“Until the police stop killing innocent people, we will handle incidents like this one using non-violent tactics that do not involve police. We must stand together to fight against institutional racism,” he added.

Abumayyaleh said he was not at the store when the incident occurred but that an employee called the police after “receiving a counterfeit bill from George Floyd.”

Four officers showed up. During the arrest, which a bystander captured on video, one officer knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes, even as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe. Floyd died shortly thereafter.

The four officers were fired, and the one seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers have not been charged.

Abumayyaleh said his nephew was present at the store during Floyd’s arrest and was “yelling for the police officers to stop” and was “pushed away by one of the cops.”

Abumayyaleh said Cup Foods has been in regular contact with Floyd’s family. He said the store is also donating money to pay for Floyd’s memorial service.