Ex-NBA Player Royce White Gives Speech at Protests After George Floyd's Death

Former NBA player Royce White was among those who organized a peaceful protest in Minneapolis on Friday in response to the killing of an unarmed black man, 46-year-old George Floyd, who died while in police custody last Monday.

Per CNN, video showed a 44-year-old white officer, Derek Chauvin, subdued Floyd by placing his knee on his neck for a prolonged period despite Floyd's pleas that he was in pain and couldn't breathe.

Mike Max of CBS 4 Minnesota reported that White and ex-football player Darrell Thompson led a protest that started at U.S. Bank Stadium, the home of the Minnesota Vikings. Robert Klemko of the Washington Post reported that the protest started with around 200 people but grew into thousands.

That group took a knee on Hennepin Bridge. Once there, White gave a speech, per Tyler Davis of the Des Moines Register, before heading onto I-35.

White was a first-team All-Big 12 member at Iowa State in 2012. He was born and raised in Minneapolis.