Thierry Henry takes a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds as he supports Black Lives Matter

Thierry Henry made a powerful statement in the fight for racial equality as he took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds.

The Montreal Impact manager showed his support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Thursday with this act in memory of George Floyd, a black American man, who was brutally killed by American police in Minnesota in May.

Floyd’s death sadly occurred when white police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on his neck for a reported eight minutes and 46 seconds, with that number becoming a grim symbol of police brutality. 

And Henry highlighted this matter emphatically during the start of Montreal’s opening match of the MLS is Back Tournament against the New England Revolution – a game they lost 1-0.

Wearing a T-shirt with ‘Black Lives Matter’ emblazoned on the front, the Frenchman knelt inside his technical area at kick-off and only returned to his feet after the opening eight minutes and 46 seconds of the match.

‘I sat down for 8 mins and 46 seconds, I guess you guys know why,’ Henry said after the match.

‘It was just to pay tribute and show support to the cause. That was basically it. [It’s] pretty simple.’

Henry’s show of solidarity is the latest across the MLS as America’s top flight stand up against racial injustice.