Cara Santana protests with her friends in LA amid unrest following killing of George Floyd
Cara Santana’s activism continues.
The 35-year-old actress raised her arm in support of Black Lives Matter as she was involved in a demonstration in Los Angeles amid the nationwide unrest after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed a black man named George Floyd last week when he kneeled on the back of Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed, rendering him unable to breathe.
The Real Bros of Simi Valley star donned a white tank top and denim shorts with white sneakers and wore her hair up on the sunny day in the City of Angeles.
Focused: Cara Santana, 35, raised her arm in support of Black Lives Matter as she was involved in a demonstration in Los Angeles Tuesday amid the nationwide unrest after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed a black man named George Floyd last week
The Salem star earlier this week took to Instagram to show how she was making efforts to clean up the debris in Los Angeles after days of demonstrations and looting.
‘Today we walked the decimated community we call home and talked about our place in all of this, we looked at the destruction, we saw the pain, and we picked up the trash,’ the Vida actress said.
She added: ‘It’s glaringly obvious how polarized we are as a country and what I recognized more than anything today is it is not my job to judge and dismiss the symptoms of this pervasive illness in our society, but to do my part in treating the illness, to listen, to learn, and to be of service.’
Santana and her former fiance Jesse Metcalfe, 40, have been quarantining in Los Angeles on the same grounds with Santana in the main home and Metcalfe in a guest house.
Solidarity: Cara and three friends appeared at the event in a black SUV
Keeping an eye out: The Vida actress recorded events with her camera phone
In the May 25 incident involving Floyd, arresting officers said he matched the description of a forgery suspect, and subsequently resisted them when they took him into custody. In an accompanying clip, Chauvin was seen pinning his knee into the back of Floyd’s neck as Floyd pleaded with him to relent.
‘Please, please, please, I can’t breathe … please, man … my stomach hurts, my neck hurts, everything hurts … I can’t breathe,’ said Floyd, who later died in police custody in a nearby hospital.
Chauvin faces charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the incident.
Minnesota state and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights on Tuesday put in a human rights complaint against the Minneapolis Police Department.
‘We know that deeply seated issues exist,’ Gov. Tim Walz said. ‘I know it because we saw the casual nature of the erasing of George Floyd’s life and humanity. We also saw the reaction of the community.
Community minded: The Salem star earlier this week took to Instagram to show how she was making efforts to clean up the debris in Los Angeles after days of demonstrations and looting
Familiar face? Santana appeared animated as she ran into a friend at the assembly in LA
Solidarity: Cara has been outspoken on her social views on her Twitter account
Flashback: Recent events have drawn parallels to the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which broke out after four police officers were acquitted in their trial over the beating of Rodney King
‘They expected nothing to happen, because nothing happened so many times before.’
In the wake of the jarring sequence of events, riots began in Minnesota and spread both nationwide and internationally, with thousands of protesters taking to the streets, even amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The events have drawn parallels to the Los Angeles riots of 1992, which broke out after four police officers were acquitted in their trial over the beating of Rodney King, which was caught on video camera. In the five days of rioting, more than 60 people died, 2,000-plus were hurt and damages to destroyed property topped $1 billion.