Dave Bautista Reveals New ‘I Can’t Breathe’ and ‘We the People’ Tattoos

Actor Dave Bautista got a pair of new tattoos to commemorate the ongoing civil rights protests across the U.S. In an Instagram post on Saturday, the Stuber star showed off the new ink, with his left hand reading “We the People,” and his right hand reading “I Can’t Breathe.”

“Brothers and sisters! Be relentless in the pursuit of justice,” Bautista wrote in the caption. “Be unintimidated in the fight against oppression. We’re here together to remind each other what we’re fighting for. I want to forget but I won’t let myself. There’s too much at stake. Peace to everyone fighting for a dream.”

The “I Can’t Breathe” tattoo is a reference to George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who was killed by police during his arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. During his arrest, now-former officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against the back of Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Before Floyd died, he was heard saying “I can’t breathe.” Those words were also said by Eric Garner, a 44-year-old black man who was killed by police in 2014 and have since become one of the rallying cries of the protesters over the last several weeks.

A noted critic of President Donald Trump, Bautista also documented his attendance of a demonstration in his hometown of Washington, D.C. in June, which included the painting of the words “Black Lives Matter” along 16th street. “Like we’re all together in this and we will not be doing this again in 10 years,” Bautista posted on June 8. “We’re too connected. We’re too united. And nobody is looking the other way anymore because all lives can’t matter until #blacklivesmatter.”

Back in April, the former WWE star once again took aim at Trump, which started with a tweet from Trump about “how few quotes from an actual person are given nowadays by the Lamestream Media.” He also added that “unnamed or anonymous sources are almost always FAKE NEWS.” Due to Trump’s history of making false statements, Bautista quote-tweeted Trump, calling him “the joke of the f—ing century.” He also called out his administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has been largely ignored by the Oval Office over the past several weeks.