Four Minneapolis police officers were fired Tuesday following the death of George Floyd, a man who died on Monday May 25th, 2020 after an officer kneeled on his neck while he was handcuffed on the ground, shouting that he couldn’t breathe.
Floyd was arrested around 8 p.m. Monday for forgery, a non-violent crime that implies he tried to used forged documents at a nearby deli. We are in the middle of a fucking pandemic, the man was probably just trying to buy some food for his family. Yet this ended in tragedy because negligent racist cops. Officers say he resisted arrest before Frazier started filming. They say they’re still reviewing the body cam footage available. Hopefully we’ll know exactly what they all saw soon.
Bystander video that circulated on social media shows an officer who appears to be pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck, while Floyd is pinned face-down on the street. Floyd can be heard repeatedly pleading with officer to get up.
“Please man, I can’t breathe,” Floyd says. “I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe.”
Within minutes, the video shows Floyd closing his eyes and no longer speaking. The officer appears to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck, even as onlookers begin shouting that he isn’t moving and demand that officers help him. The video shows a second officer nearby, looking in the direction of onlookers.
Police called for an ambulance but Floyd died shortly after arriving at a hospital.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced their terminations during a news conference. He did not publicly identify the officers.
“It is the right decision for our city,” Mayor Jacob Frey said of the firings. “We’ve stated our values and ultimately we need to live by them.”
The FBI has opened a separate federal civil rights investigation into the matter at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department, Arradondo said.
May justice be served for George and his family.
A protest in response to Floyd’s death has been planned for Tuesday evening at the intersection where he was killed.
Update: 5/27/2020
The newly released footage, obtained shows officers wrestling with Floyd as they attempt to place him in handcuffs.
CCTV footage has also emerged from a nearby restaurant showing part of the altercation between Floyd and the officers on the scene.
The videos shed new light on Monday’s confrontation which has raised questions over officers’ alleged use of excessive force on a suspect accused of a non-violent offense.
Footage of the scene shows Floyd being handcuffed and appearing to comply with officers as they escort him to the police car.
The events to follow were captured in a separate video taken by a bystander which showed Floyd pleading with the cop as seen above.
Witnesses at the scene urged the officer to stop, with one pointing out that the suspect was not resisting arrest.
Thousands of defiant protesters took to the streets to demand justice for Floyd on Tuesday, and were met with Minneapolis cops in riot gear firing rubber bullets and tear gas.
The victim’s heartbroken family have called for the cops to be charged with murder and their lawyer revealed white cop Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for a staggering eight minutes during the arrest for forgery.
Floyd worked as a security guard at Conga Latin Bistro, a local bistro in Minneapolis. The bar’s owners have described him as a ‘very calm, nice guy’ who was not the type to be ‘aggressive’ or ‘disrespectful’.
The demonstrators demanded the arrest of the four officers but were met with rubber bullets and tear gas fired by masked cops as the city’s streets descended into chaos.
Some had their faces doused in milk to limit the effects of the gas while others ran for cover. Sadly this is what people must do to be noticed, and heard. I’m in no way saying causing a riot or starting fires is ok but at the same time what did we expect to happen? The violence just doesn’t stop. Why is this still such a problem?
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called on prosecutors to arrest and charge the white police officer who was filmed kneeling on the neck of black man George Floyd moments before he died in custody.
The cops, who were initially placed on paid administrative leave, were terminated from the Minneapolis Police Department on Tuesday after footage of Floyd’s arrest and subsequent death was widely shared on social media. Let’s just say that didn’t go over very well. May justice be served for George Floyd!
Update 5/31/2020
Hennepin County’s prosecutor announced charges of third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter against the fired Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin who killed George Floyd.
He is the first white officer in Minnesota to be criminally prosecuted in the death of a civilian. The maximum sentence for third-degree murder is 25 years; the maximum for second-degree manslaughter is 10 years.
Chauvin is being held in the Ramsey County jail on $500,000 bail. The agency that led the investigation resulting in the charges, the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, late Friday explained why he wasn’t jailed in the county where he was charged.
As the riots continued to worsen in Minneapolis, they seem to just spread to other city’s and states throughout the U.S. with outraged people. Such as LA and then to Atlanta. The CNN center got it pretty bad last night. This won’t go away, even if he’s been arrested it’s not enough. They will make their point very clear.
Huge demonstrations have taken place in at least 30 cities across the US. They were largely peaceful on Saturday, but violence flared later in the day.
One of the cities worst affected by unrest is Los Angeles. California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the city and activated the National Guard – the reserve military force that can be called on to intervene in domestic emergencies.
The entire city is under a 20:00 to 05:30 curfew. Numerous shops have been looted, including on the famous retail avenues, Melrose and Fairfax. Earlier police fired rubber bullets and hit protesters with batons. Hundreds of arrests have been made.
In under-curfew Philadelphia, 13 police officers were hurt and at least 35 arrests made as stores were looted, police cars torched and buildings defaced.
Overnight curfews have also been declared in Miami, Portland and Louisville, among other cities.
San Francisco is the latest to impose a curfew, announced by Mayor London Breed for 20:00 local time on Sunday, after looting and violence.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said this was “the heaviest moment I’ve experienced” since the riots in 1992 that were sparked by the acquittal of police over the beating of Rodney King.”
The Floyd case has reignited US anger over police killings of black Americans. It follows the high-profile cases of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York and others that have driven the Black Lives Matter movement.
The president denounced the actions of “looters and anarchists”, accusing them of dishonouring the memory of Mr Floyd. What was needed, he said, was “healing not hatred, justice not chaos”.
“I will not allow angry mobs to dominate – won’t happen,” he added.
Mr Trump has blamed the mayor of Minneapolis – a Democrat – for failing to control the protests, which are the worst since the president took office.
The president’s Democratic Party rival, Joe Biden, has accused him of giving oxygen to bigotry and said those responsible for Mr Floyd’s death must be held accountable.
But he also condemned rioting, saying: “Protesting such brutality is right and necessary. But burning down communities and needless destruction is not.”
Many mayors and local officials have been trying to separate the genuine protests over Mr Floyd’s death from the violent unrest, often blaming “outsiders” for the looting and arson. There have been many reports of residents trying to stop acts of violence.
Derek Chauvin, 44, is due to appear in court on Monday.
Update:
The charges: Chauvin was charged on Wednesday with a new, more serious count of second-degree murder. He had previously been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.The second-degree murder charge says he killed Floyd “without intent” in the course of committing assault in the third degree, according to an amended complaint. Chauvin was arrested last week and is being held at a Minnesota Department of Corrections facility in Oak Park. His bail was increased to $1 million Wednesday, court documents show.