Los Angeles, May 31 (PTI) Hollywood celebrities Beyonce, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Dwayne Johnson, Selena Gomez and others took to social media demanding justice for George Floyd, the African-American man who was killed in police custody in Minneapolis.

The 46-year-old man died last Monday in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a white police officer pressed his knee on his neck for more than eight minutes. The officer was arrested on Friday and charged with third-degree murder.

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“We need justice for George Floyd. We all witnessed his murder in broad daylight. We're broken and we're disgusted. We cannot normalize this pain,”Beyonce said in an Instagram video.

“I'm not only speaking to people of color. If you're white, black, brown or anything in between, I'm sure you feel hopeless by the racism going on in America right now. No more senseless killings of human beings. No more seeing people of color as less than human. We can no longer look away,” she added.

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Calling racism an “ongoing disease”, action star Johnson said the police officer didn't abide to the cop code and his intention was to kill Floyd.

“Past few days I've been stunned trying make sense of George Floyd's death. The video. The plea for breath. The callous response. The racism. The killing. This is our ongoing disease. I've had cops in my family. Good men. And there's a cop code, granting you the authority to use force if your life is in danger. But when a man is handcuffed, on the ground, no longer a threat...

“Cop code must become moral code. Ethics code. HUMANITY code. Knowing that if you don't ease up, then that man is going to die. So when you decide to not ease up, your intention is to kill. And that's what this was. … I'm so sorry to the Floyd family. My heart breaks for you. Let the process begin now,” he said.

Rihanna wrote on Instagram that watching her people get “murdered and lynched” has been devastating.

“For the last few days, the magnitude of devastation, anger, sadness I've felt has been overwhelming to say the least. Watching my people get murdered and lynched day after day pushed me to a heavy place in my heart!

“To the point of staying away from socials, just to avoid hearing the blood curdling agony in George Floyd's voice again, begging over and over for his life! The look of enticement, the pure joy and climax on the face of this bigot, murderer, thug, pig, bum, Derek Chauvin, haunts me,” she said.

Gaga said “murder is murder” and if cops commit such a heinous crime they should be convicted like any other normal citizens.

“This is absolutely horrific and if the mayor and DA do not step up it sets a poor example for this entire country. And we all know this is not the first time the country has spoken up about this corrupt and unacceptable activity," she added.

In an Instagram post, Ariana Grande asked her followers to keep signing petitions to make donations to help Floyd's family and continue having conversations with people about racism and the “senseless acts of murder that happen in this country far too often”.

“Our black friends need us to show up and to be better and to be vocal. now more than ever. online. offline even more so,” the singer wrote.

According Us Weekly, in a press conference in Minneapolis, Jamie Foxx said people are no more afraid to stand up.

"This is the toughest time when things like this happen. All I wanted to do was let you know that we're not afraid to stand. We're not afraid of the moment... All we're trying to do is ask questions of why," the actor-singer said.

"Too many black lives have been taken from us for far too long. They deserve better. They deserve to be heard. We all need to do better and not sit in silence as this injustice continues,” Gomez posted on Instagram.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian West said she is “infuriated and disgusted” by the incident.

“Even though I will never know the pain and suffering they have endured, or what it feels like to try to survive in a world plagued by systemic racism, I know I can use my own voice to help amplify those voices that have been muffled for too long,” she added.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)