MINNEAPOLIS: A former Minneapolis police officer has been arrested and charged with murder following the death of an unarmed black man in custody.
Derek Chauvin, who is white, was shown in footage kneeling on an unarmed black man George Floyd’s neck to the street on Monday, an incident that has led to four nights of violent protests.
Days of looting and arson in the Minnesota city have boiled over into nationwide protests. The case has reignited US anger over police killings of black Americans
Derek Chauvin, who was dismissed from the police department with three fellow officers the day after the fatal encounter, was arrested on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges for his role in Monday’s death of 46-year-old George Floyd.
The charges brought by Hennepin County prosecutors came after a third night of arson, looting and vandalism in Minnesota’s largest city that saw protesters set fire to a police station and the National Guard deployed to help restore order.
Mayor Jacob Frey said he ordered police to retreat from the precinct station to prevent an escalation of violence buy law enforcement officers were out in force again.
Authorities had hoped Chauvin’s arrest would allay public anger and avert continued unrest. About 500 demonstrators defied curfew and new clashed eruipted on Friday evening with riot police.
Police, who created a two-block buffer area around the precinct house, opened fire with tear gas, plastic bullets and concussion grenades, sending the crowd scattering. There were also sympathy protests in several cities across the country, including New York, Denver, Houston, Atlanta, Detroit and Louisville, Kentucky.
Attorney Mike Freeman, announcing Chauvin’s arrest earlier in the day, said a key piece of evidence in the case was the widely seen video footage, taken with an onlooker’s cellphone, showing Floyd lying face down in the street, with Chauvin kneeling on the back of Floyd’s neck.
The graphic footage shows Floyd gasping for air and pleading for help as he repeatedly groaned, “please, I can’t breathe,” while a crowd of anguished bystanders shouted at police to let the man up.
After several minutes, Floyd gradually grows unresponsive and ceases to move. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.
“We have evidence, we have the citizen’s camera’s video, the horrible, horrific, terrible thing we have all seen over and over again,” Freeman said. “We have the officer’s body-worn camera, we have statements from some witnesses.”
Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, according to an autopsy report. Medical examiners found the impact of being restrained by police, underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.
Floyd, a Houston native who had worked as security for a nightclub, was arrested for allegedly using counterfeit money at a store to buy cigarettes. An employee who called police described the suspect as possibly drunk, according to an official transcript of the call.
US 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.
ADVERTISEMENT
