“What we saw on television, to watch this man plead for his mother,” Foxx continued. “What it does is it over-complicates everything as a black man trying to tell his son or his daughter how to function in life. Even the things we’ve taught them don’t seem to work.”

The ongoing events have attracted national and international attention, with public figures from all walks of life showing their support.

Leslie Redmond, president of Minneapolis NAACP, gave events of this week a little more historical perspective. “What you’re witnessing in Minnesota is something that’s been a long time coming. I can’t tell you how many governors I’ve sat down with, how many mayors we’ve sat down with. And we’ve warned them that if you keep murdering black people, the city will burn. We have stopped the city from burning numerous times, and we are not responsible for it burning now.”