George Floyd case: Prosecutors charge 3 policemen at scene
June 4, 2020
Three other officers who were at the scene have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder in the case of George Floyd's death. Derek Chauvin has also seen the murder charge against him upgraded.
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The police officer who pressed his knee against George Floyd's neck was charged with the more-serious offense of second-degree murder on Wednesday, while charges were also been brought against three other officers who were at the scene.
The killing in Minneapolis on May 25 was filmed by a bystander, leading to protests against police brutality and racism across the US, before demonstrations spread around the world.
The officer, Derek Chauvin, was fired a day after the incident and initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers involved were also fired but were not charged until Wednesday.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison brought the more-serious charge against Chauvin, while also charging Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
Ellison called the protests sparked by the death as "dramatic and necessary" and said Floyd "should be here and he is not. His life had value, and we will seek justice."
Floyd's family and protesters have repeatedly demanded criminal charges against all four officers, as well as more severe charges for Chauvin who, a little over a week ago, pressed Floyd's neck to the ground with his knee for almost nine minutes, despite protests from the victim and passerbys that he couldn't breathe.
An attorney for Floyd's family, Benjamin Crump, described the latest development as "a bittersweet moment" and "a significant step forward on the road to justice." Crump added that Ellison had pledged to continue his investigation and would upgrade the charge to first-degree murder if warranted.
An official autopsy has confirmed Floyd's death to be the result of homicide.
In pictures: US protests over George Floyd, police killings rage in dozens of cities
US protests against the systemic mistreatment of blacks by police have sparked violent confrontations. President Donald Trump has said the military is "ready, willing and able'' to step in.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/J. Cortez
'I can't breathe'
Tense protests over decades of police brutality against black people have quickly spread from Minneapolis to cities across the US. The protests began in the Midwestern city earlier this week, after a police officer handcuffed and pressed a knee on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, until he stopped breathing and died.
Image: picture-alliance/newscom/C. Sipkin
A 'gentle giant'
Floyd grew up in Houston, Texas, and moved to Minneapolis in 2014 for work. Before his death, he was looking for work after having been laid off from his job as a security guard at a Latin bistro due to Minnesota's stay-at-home coronavirus restrictions. Standing 6 feet, 6 inches (1.98 meters) tall, his friends described him as a "gentle giant."
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/O. Messinger
From peaceful to violent
Protests were mostly peaceful on Saturday, though some became violent as the night wore on. In Washington, D.C., the National Guard was deployed outside the White House. At least one person died in shootings in downtown Indianapolis; police said no officers were involved. Officers were injured in Philadelphia, while in New York two NYPD vehicles lurched into a crowd, knocking people to the ground.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA/J. Mallin
Shops destroyed, looted
In Los Angeles, protesters faced off with officers with shouts of "Black Lives Matter!" as police confronted crowds with batons and rubber bullets. In some cities including LA, Atlanta, New York, Chicago and Minneapolis, protests have turned into riots, with people looting and destroying local shops and businesses.
Image: picture-alliance/AP Photo/C. Pizello
'When the looting starts…'
President Donald Trump has threatened to send in the military to quell the protests, saying his "administration will stop mob violence and will stop it cold." Trump's response has inflamed tensions across the country. He blamed the rioting on alleged far-left groups, but Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told reporters he had heard multiple unconfirmed reports of white supremacists stoking the violence.
Image: picture-alliance/ZUMA/K. Birmingham
Media in the crosshairs
Many journalists covering the protests have found themselves targeted by law enforcement. On Friday, CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his crew were arrested while covering the story in Minneapolis, and several reporters have been hit with projectiles or detained while on air. DW's Stefan Simons was fired at by police twice as he reported on the unrest over the weekend.
Image: Getty Images/S. Olson
Going global
North of the US border, in Canada, thousands of protesters took to the streets in Vancouver and Toronto. In Berlin, American expats and other demonstrators gathered outside the US Embassy. In London, protesters kneeled in Trafalgar Square before marching past the Houses of Parliament and stopping at the British capital's US Embassy.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Soeder
At Trump's front door
Protests raged in the US capital, Washington, after the district began its 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew on Sunday. More than 1,000 demonstrators gathered in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, with some lighting fires outside the president's residence. <i>The New York Times</i> reported that Secret Service had brought Trump into a bunker as a safety precaution.
Image: Reuters/J. Ernst
Curfews in major US cities
Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Detroit, Washington D.C. and other US cities extended curfews as protests entered a sixth night on Sunday. The state of Arizona in the west instituted a statewide, weeklong curfew after demonstrators clashed with police. Around 5,000 troops from the National Guard also have been deployed in 15 US states.
Image: Reuters/P.T. Fallon
Trump threatens to bring in US military
In the face of renewed protests on Monday, Trump threatened to deploy the military if states failed to "defend their residents." As he made his remarks, security authorities used tear gas and rubber bullets to force protesters from nearby Lafayette Park. Trump then walked from his residence to a church in the park, where he held a Bible aloft during a photo opportunity.
Image: Reuters/T. Brenner
Peaceful demonstrations
Many protests in the US have remained peaceful, with groups of demonstrators standing together against police brutality. In Manhattan's Times Square on Monday, protesters lay on the ground with their hands behind their back, mimicking the position Floyd was in when he was killed. Though some people have resorted to violence, several US mayors and governors have praised the protests.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/T.A. Clary
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Positive test for COVID-19
A full post-mortem examination of Floyd showed that he had tested positive for coronavirus in April, the Associated Press reported. Floyd had reportedly appeared asymptomatic.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office released a 20-page autopsy report on Wednesday, showing that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained.
The autopsy also showed that Floyd's lungs were healthy but had some narrowing heart arteries.
An earlier summary report from the county had mentioned fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under the other significant conditions'' category and not under "cause of death."
The full report noted that signs of fentanyl intoxication can include "severe respiratory depression'' and seizures.
Peaceful protests
Across the US, there was relative calm after several nights of looting in major cities. Local authorities in several cities, including Washington, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, imposed curfews in a bid to stop the unrest.
In Washington, National Guard troops and law enforcement officers wee deployed near the White House. Despite thousands of protesters gathering in the area, there were not major altercations.
In New York, a video circulating on social media showed police officers beat a man riding a bicycle for being out after curfew. In Los Angeles, thousands of protesters gathered in downtown ahead of the curfew.