Daniel E. Ottley

May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African American man, died in Powderhorn,a neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive. Officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane participated in Floyd’s arrest, with Kueng holding Floyd’s back, Lane holding his legs, and Thao looking on as he stood nearby.Preliminary results from the official autopsy found no indication that Floyd died of strangulation or traumatic asphyxia, but that the combined effects of being restrained, underlying health conditions, including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease , and potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.Attorneys for Floyd’s family announced that they have requested an independent autopsy.

The arrest was made after Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli. Police said Floyd physically resisted arrest.According to NewsHub, a security camera from a nearby business did not show Floyd resisting. However, the criminal complaint filed later stated Floyd “did not voluntarily get in the car and struggled with the officers, intentionally falling down, saying he was not going in the car, and refusing to stand still” based on body cameras worn by Kueng and Lane.Several bystanders recorded the event on their smartphones, with one video showing Floyd repeating “Please”, “I can’t breathe”, “Mama”, and “Don’t kill me” being widely circulated on social media platforms and broadcast by the media. All four officers were fired the next day.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation  (FBI) is conducting a federal civil rights investigation into the incident at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension  (BCA) is also investigating possible violations of Minnesota statutes. On May 29, Chauvin was charged with  third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for Floyd’s death, with Hennepin County attorney Michael O. Freeman saying he anticipated charges to be brought against the other three officers at the scene.

After Floyd’s death, demonstrations and protest  in the Minneapolis Saint Paul area were initially peaceful on May 26, but later that day became violent as windows were smashed at a police precinct, two stores were set on fire,and many stores were looted and damaged. Some demonstrators skirmished with police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Additional protests developed in over 1oo cities throughout all 50 states in the United States, as well as internationally. Floyd’s death has been compared to the 2014 death of Eric Gardner. Garner, also an unarmed black man, repeated “I can’t breathe” eleven times after being placed in a choke hole by a New York police officer during an arrest in Staten Island.

George Perry Floyd was a 46-year-old African-American man who was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and raised in Houston, Texas.He attended Yates High School where he played on the basketball and football teams. Floyd was a star tight end   for Yates, helping them to the 1992 state championship final game.He played basketball at South Florida  Community College from 1993 to 1995. Floyd returned to Houston where he joined the hip hop group Scewed Up Click  and rapped under the stage name “Big Floyd”.In 2014, Floyd moved to Minnesota. He lived in St Louis Park and worked in nearby Minneapolis as a restaurant security guard for five years.At the time of his death, Floyd had recently lost his job due to Minnesota’s stay at home order during the Covid-19 pandemic . Floyd was the father of two daughters, aged six and 22, who remained in Houston. He was described as a “gentle giant” by friends and family.