Minneapolis police officer charged with murder of George Floyd

By Carlos Barria

 

Plumes of smoke rise into the sky in the aftermath of a protest after a white police officer was caught on a bystander's video pressing his knee into the neck of African-American man George Floyd, who later died at a hospital, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., May 29, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - A white former Minneapolis police officer was charged with murder on Friday after a bystander video showed him pinning his knee into the neck of an unarmed black man who later died, an incident that triggered three nights of violent protests.

 

Derek Chauvin, the officer seen on the cellphone video footage kneeling on George Floyd's neck, is in custody and has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told a news briefing.

 

"We have evidence, we have the citizen's camera's video, the horrible, horrific, terrible thing we have all seen over and over again, we have the officer's body-worn camera, we have statements from some witnesses," Freeman said.

 

The graphic footage, taken during the Monday evening arrest, shows Floyd, 46, gasping for air and pleading for help as he repeatedly groans, "please, I can't breathe," while onlookers can be heard shouting at police to let him up.

 

Floyd gradually grew unresponsive and ceased to move. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.

 

Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, according to court documents. An autopsy found the combined impact of being restrained by police, underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.

 

The charges came after a third night of turmoil, which saw protesters set fire to a police station in Minneapolis and the National Guard deployed to help restore order.

 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey imposed an 8 p.m. curfew to try to stop the violence that has wracked the city the last three nights. The curfew will extend through the weekend, expiring at 6 a.m. each morning, and prohibits people from traveling on public streets or gathering in a public place.

 

Floyd, a Houston native who had worked security for a nightclub, was arrested for allegedly using counterfeit money at a store to buy cigarettes on Monday evening. An employee who called police described the suspect as possibly drunk, according to an official transcript of the call.

 

Chauvin and three other officers at the scene were fired on Tuesday from the Minneapolis Police Department. The city has identified them as Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng.

 

Freeman said the investigation into Chauvin, who faces up to 25 years in prison if he is convicted, was continuing and he anticipated filing charges against the other officers as well. He said it was appropriate to charge "the most dangerous perpetrator" first.

 

'HARROWING'

 

U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the video "harrowing and deeply disturbing" in a written statement and said a parallel federal investigation would determine if the officers violated civil rights laws.

 

Floyd's death recalled the 2014 killing of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man in New York City, who died after being put in a police chokehold and telling the officers, "I can't breathe."

 

Mike Griffin, a community organizer in Minneapolis, said the resulting protests reflected years of frustration over economic inequalities and the feeling that black lives were not valued as highly by police.

 

He said anger has been building since the 2015 fatal shooting by Minneapolis police of 24-year-old Jamar Clark, and the 2016 killing of Philando Castile, a 32-year old black man shot by Minnesota police during a traffic stop.

 

"George's murder was just the last straw," Griffin told Reuters, calling the charges against Chauvin a step in the right direction, but adding there needed to be systemic changes.

 

The protests, which threatened to carry into a fourth night, have been driven in part by the initial lack of arrests in the case.

 

Responding to a reporter's question about why no officer was arrested sooner, Hennepin County Attorney Freeman stressed that charges in similar cases typically take nine months to a year.

 

"This is by far the fastest we've ever charged a police officer," said Freeman.

 

Earlier on Friday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said he understood why people had "lost faith" in the police but argued Floyd's plight had gotten "lost in 48 hours of anarchy" and called for an end to destruction of property. He has declared a state of emergency and called in the state's National Guard.

 

"None of us can live in a society where roving bands go unchecked and do what they want to, ruin property," Walz said, adding that a reckoning with the city's racial inequities could not happen without calm. "We have to get back to that point of what caused this all to happen and start working on that."

 

The governor also apologized to CNN after police arrested three members of its TV crew during an early morning sweep.

 

Protesters also took to the streets of several other U.S. cities on Friday over the killing of Floyd and other unarmed black people, including Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot by police in her home in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.

 

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert in Washington, Brendan O'Brien in Chicago, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut, Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico, Peter Szekely in New York and Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Writing by Nathan Layne and Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Bill Tarrant and Aurora Ellis)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-05-30

 

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Good... The other officers should be charged with conspiracy to murder as well.

Very disturbing video of the whole incident and they had plenty of time to remedy the situation but chose not to.

The guy will not stand a chance once inside prison, that's what you get....

If the Hennepin County Attorney had charged Chauvin four days ago, none of the demonstrations would have happened.  The other three cops who failed their duty to intervene should be charged and jailed promptly also.  Unless they are punished the police practices will never change.

I think the other three cops will face the same charges and that all four will be convicted and go to prison.  

Clearly a heart issue - which stopped as his breathing was impaired...by a knee on his throat. 

An off topic post has been removed. 

Imo an appropriate charge as far as the others dereliction of duty to serve and protect possibly rather way absolutely no excuses for their conduct the dude was cuffed I hope the cop responsible for that mans death serves a very long sentence 

At least there's some justice in the USA when one person is killed by police.

I wonder what would happen if the if the Military killed 90?

24 minutes ago, DirtyHarry55 said:

At least there's some justice in the USA when one person is killed by police.

I wonder what would happen if the if the Military killed 90?

Look up Kent State University May 4 1970, that may answer your part of your question 

God Bless America ????

3 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I only hope the looters and destroyers of folks property are caught and prosecuted to the fullest as well. Justice for all.

Absolutely true!

You steel a TV, you should feel the full forse of the law- just like an on-duty officer, killing an unarmed black guy, who was not in the slightest resisting arres, in broad daylight and on camera!

It's about the same thing!

>sarcasm of<

13 minutes ago, Grumpy one said:

Look up Kent State University May 4 1970, that may answer your part of your question 

God Bless America ????

Not really because that was like 50 years ago when 4 people were killed by what seems to be and accidental 13 second shooting.
After which there was an inquiry so they learned from their mistakes and now use RUBBER BULLETS and NOT live round with protesters.

The application of pressure to the side of the neck in a specific way is known as the 'choke hold' or 'sleeper choke hold' as it restricts the passage of air or blood, or both, through the neck.  It can lead to unconsciousness or death quite quickly.  The attached link describes it very clearly and how potentially lethal it can be.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chokehold

From the video I saw the police officer was applying pressure with his knee to the side of the neck and this would not normally leave any sign of strangulation.  At the time he did this the victim was lying down and handcuffed and therefore presented no threat to the officer.  There was no justification to apply any force or use a chokehold to subdue a suspect as the victim was already in custody!  I have no knowledge of the victim's health condition in relation to his heart or taking of drugs but both are irrelevant to the actual physical assault by the officer on an arrested and subdued person.

They love pigs in the monkey house.

14 minutes ago, spiekerjozef said:

They love pigs in the monkey house.

They'll be in protective custody, same as child molesters.

6 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I only hope the looters and destroyers of folks property are caught and prosecuted to the fullest as well. Justice for all.

Completely off topic, but I guess you can’t stomach the idea of the cop being charged with murder (the actual topic under discussion).

4 hours ago, Tug said:

Imo an appropriate charge as far as the others dereliction of duty to serve and protect possibly rather way absolutely no excuses for their conduct the dude was cuffed I hope the cop responsible for that mans death serves a very long sentence 

3rd Degree murder usually gets 20 years.

 

I doubt he’d last one.

6 hours ago, cmarshall said:

If the Hennepin County Attorney had charged Chauvin four days ago, none of the demonstrations would have happened.  The other three cops who failed their duty to intervene should be charged and jailed promptly also.  Unless they are punished the police practices will never change.

If Trump had been on the ball and insisted on their immediate arrest the November election would have been a foregone conclusion.

 

A bit slow off the mark there Donald! What will you tell your Black Voices For Trump pals the next time you see 'em.

Reported Troll comment and subsequent quotes of it have been removed.

3 hours ago, DirtyHarry55 said:

4 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

Look up Kent State University May 4 1970, that may answer your part of your question 

God Bless America ????

Not really because that was like 50 years ago

"...that was like 50 years ago".

 

No, it wasn't "like" fifty years ago, it was fifty years ago.

50 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Completely off topic, but I guess you can’t stomach the idea of the cop being charged with murder (the actual topic under discussion).

I'm sure you want the looters and the folks setting fire to buildings and vehicles to be held accountable. As far  as the cop goes, we'll see after all is investigated.

7 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

I only hope the looters and destroyers of folks property are caught and prosecuted to the fullest as well. Justice for all.

Absolutly, what has nicking stuff from an innocent blokes business got to do with the police actions....Nothing, just an excuse for freebies whilst the cops are busy, but seen it all before....

Troll post removed

Charged is one thing. Getting a conviction is another. Does Rodney King ring a bell?

4 minutes ago, time2093 said:

Charged is one thing. Getting a conviction is another. Does Rodney King ring a bell?

This time the jury won't be from Simi Valley. 

9 hours ago, cmarshall said:

If the Hennepin County Attorney had charged Chauvin four days ago, none of the demonstrations would have happened.  The other three cops who failed their duty to intervene should be charged and jailed promptly also.  Unless they are punished the police practices will never change.

I saw the Fox Five saying the same thing. I  had to pinch myself to see if I somehow was in an alternate universe. 

Some more off topic posts and replies have been removed. 

FBI stats for 2020

police shooting - whites - 197, Blacks - 31

 

FBI stats for 2019 

police shooting - whites - 379, blacks - 235

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/

5 hours ago, Grumpy one said:

Look up Kent State University May 4 1970, that may answer your part of your question 

God Bless America ????

interesting read,
what is happening now seems like a flash-back to those years

34 minutes ago, jb61 said:

FBI stats for 2020

police shooting - whites - 197, Blacks - 31

 

FBI stats for 2019 

police shooting - whites - 379, blacks - 235

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/585152/people-shot-to-death-by-us-police-by-race/

Math not your thing then:

 

On the latest population 2016 data (Non Hispanic Whites) make up around 61.27% of the US population while Blacks make up around 13.31%, a ratio of around 4.6:1.

 

From the last full years (2019) police shootings data*, if the Police shootings were equated to the population race ratio then 379 Whites should equate to 82 Blacks killed by police shooting, the actual figure of 235 indicates the Police are killing Blacks at (2.855) approximately 3 times the rate by population as they are killing Whites.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/270272/percentage-of-us-population-by-ethnicities

 

And of course the police officer who killed this victim did not use his gun.

 

*Data for this year is incomplete and as such we have no idea if all data thus far has been reported.

 

 

Edited May 30, 20206 yr by Chomper Higgot

2 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Math not your thing then:

 

On the latest population 2016 data (Non Hispanic Whites) make up around 61.27% of the US population while Blacks make up around 13.31%, a ratio of around 4.6:1.

 

https://www.statista.com/statistics/270272/percentage-of-us-population-by-ethnicities

 

How do crimes committed by blacks compare to those by whites proportionally?