This moment was recorded by several people from both sides of the protest and posted on social media. “Blacks don’t mean anything to anyone,” shouted an All Lives Matter protester.
The whole incident lasted one minute and 23 seconds, according to the video posted to social media obtained by CNN.
The video appears to have been taken by protestors of All Lives Matter and shows what happened before and after the Black Lives Matter parade passed.
About 20 seconds before the police car escorting the Black Lives Matter march reached protesters All Lives Matter, a man lying prone on the ground. Shortly after, another man knelt on his neck, and the re-enactment of Floyd’s death began.
Another eyewitness video, taken by the Black Lives Matters march, takes what happens next.
“I felt something was happening because officers started moving us to the opposite side of the road as we marched closer to the area,” Russell Sampson, a Black Lives Matter march, told CNN.
Ten seconds after the escort police cars passed, when the demonstrators approached, the man on his knees began shouting at them. “You disobeyed, that’s what happened,” he shouted, gesturing to the protesters to the people below him. “Look … he doesn’t obey! He doesn’t obey. If he will obey, that won’t happen.”
The organizer of the Black Lives Matter protest in Franklinville, Daryan Fennal, told CNN that he was made to cry at the reenactment.
“I see mothers trying to cover their children’s eyes,” he told CNN in a statement.
“Racism is everywhere, but it’s to display it in a horrible and public way that surprises me.”
After the protesters passed, the man who took the video then began commenting on the Black Lives Matter march.
“Black people don’t mean anything to anyone,” he said on the video. “All lives are important. All lives are important. The police are important. God bless the police. God bless the police. You stupid protesters.”
Correction clerk suspended, FedEx employee fired
Re-demonstration drew quick criticism because the video was widely shared on social media.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy condemned the behavior, saying that “mocking” the Floyd murder, “downplaying the call for justice from our repulsive black and brown community.”
After the video surfaced and anger grew online, the New Jersey Corrections Department said it had suspended officers who it said were “participating in the filming of hateful and disappointing video films that mocked the murder of George Floyd.”
The department has also begun a “thorough and accelerated” investigation into officers.
A source who was aware of the situation told CNN that the suspended officer was Joseph DeMarco, who had been employed by NJDOC for at least 18 years. The source said that after having a “conversation” with his union on Tuesday, DeMarco retained a private lawyer. DeMarco will be interviewed by NJDOC’s internal affairs on Wednesday morning, according to the source.
The hearing will be held after internal affairs make their recommendations and then it will be decided whether DeMarco is suspended with or without payment, the source said.
Several calls by CNN to DeMarco have not been returned.
Local union president William Sullivan told CNN that the union – which represents around 6,000 correctional police officers in New Jersey – was notified of the incident around 12:30 pm on Tuesday after “many officers called and were angry.”
“We need to continue to practice tolerance and understanding; not discrimination and hatred,” the union said in a statement on their Facebook page. “As a collective group, we pray for those who are injured and we are here to help everyone heal.”
In a statement, FedEx said it had fired an employee they allegedly saw in the video during the protest.
“FedEx holds its team members with high standards of personal behavior, and we do not tolerate the types of horrible and offensive behaviors depicted in this video. The individuals involved are no longer employed by FedEx. We support people who support justice and equality,” reads a statement that.
CNN continued to try to contact former FedEx employees to provide comments, as well as the correction officer who was suspended.
But Daryann Fennal, organizer of the Black Lives Matter, said this would not eliminate his efforts. He said he could not “not see” the re-enactment and called it frightening and frightening. “Despite the horrific incident we witnessed, I still hope for the future and I hope that at least we reached the hearts of one person yesterday,” he said.
Alta Spells, Taylor Romine, and Lauren del Valle from CNN contributed to this reporting.