Investigation launched after Kent student recreates George Floyd death footage

A University investigation has been launched after an image of a Kent student recreating the footage of the murder of George Floyd has surfaced.

The image, originally posted to Snapchat but later shared in a viral tweet, included one person being held down by another in a similar way to how US police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd, leading to his death.

It was later confirmed one of the people in the image was a Kent student.

On Kent Union’s Instagram, Union President Sasha Langeveldt said: “Be reassured that we have a zero tolerance policy to this kind of behaviour.”

Image courtesy of: @tunmishe8

In the same Instagram post, she announced that the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Education and Student Experience has been notified about the situation.

The image was first distributed on Twitter, which has now been retweeted almost 2000 times, and has prompted calls to the University to expel the students involved.

In a joint statement between Kent Union and the University of Kent, a spokesperson said: “we are investigating, alongside Kent Union, this deeply disturbing and highly insensitive image.

“The University of Kent does not tolerate racism in any form and is taking this matter very seriously.”