SAMMY HAGAR's Moving Plea To Demonstrators: 'Stop The Violence'

Sammy Hagar has condemned the destruction and violence that has broken out across the country in response to the death of George Floyd.

Although protests were largely peaceful as demonstrators marched in the streets from Los Angeles to New York, demonstrators in Atlanta set a police car ablaze and broke windows at CNN's headquarters. A number of businesses were destroyed and looted during the riots, which have spread to cities large and small. Curfews were enacted in more than two dozen cities and the National Guard was summoned in at least 12 states.

On Saturday night, Hagar posted a video message to his Twitter in which he pleaded for an end to "violence" and "prejudice." He said: "Why would anyone kill innocent people and take it out on the whole race, the whole society we are living in because of a bad guy? A bad cop, a bad black man, a bad white man, a bad Chinese, Japanese, Hispanic, South American — what's the difference? Why would you take it out on the whole human race — people with families and children that are innocent? There are bad guys everywhere, every walk of life. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Stop the violence. Stop racism, prejudice. Please."

Floyd, an unarmed black man, died on Monday (May 25) as Minneapolis police arrested him outside a convenience store on a report of a counterfeit bill being passed. The 46-year-old was seen on a bystander's video gasping for breath during an arrest in which an officer knelt on his neck for almost eight minutes. In the footage, Floyd is heard pleading with officers, "I cannot breathe... Don't kill me," while the officers ignore his pleas. He eventually stops talking and moving.