Minn. cop charged with Floyd murder
The Minneapolis police officer involved in the death of George Floyd was charged Friday by the Hennepin County Attorney with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The charging decision came after days of protests and violent rioting across the Twin Cities. Much of the destruction centered around the police department’s third precinct on East Lake Street in Minneapolis. Protesters also camped out in front of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s house clamoring for justice and prosecution of officers involved.
Speaking Friday, Freeman said he was not “insensitive” to the protests and riots across the Twin Cities since Floyd’s death on Monday. He said he and investigators worked as quickly as they could to reach the decision. Additional and more severe charges could follow, he said.
“We have now been able to put together the evidence we need. Even as late as yesterday afternoon we didn’t have all we needed. We have now found it and we felt the responsibility to charge it as soon (as we could),” Freeman said.
Officials around the Twin Cities commended the charges as the first stop in hopefully restoring peace.
The other three Minneapolis officers at the scene Monday when Floyd died have not been charged, but Freeman said he expected criminal complaints against them to be forthcoming. He would not say what those charges might be.
All four officers were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department earlier this week.
Officer Derek Chauvin was seen on video taken by a bystander pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee to Floyd’s neck for several minutes. Police were called to a convenience store near 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis after Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Floyd is seen handcuffed and lying face-down while he pleads: “Please. I can’t breathe.”
The charging document notably states that Chauvin kept his knee pinned to Floyd’s neck for nearly three minutes after he became unresponsive, even after a fellow officer, who was restraining Floyd elsewhere on his body, suggested they roll Floyd to his side.
According to the criminal complaint, on Monday police were called to Cups Food convenience store at Chicago Avenue and E. 38th Street after a report of someone trying to pass a counterfeit bill. They found Floyd and two others parked nearby in a car.
Two officers — identified in the charges as Officer Lane and J.A. Kueng — approached the vehicle. Lane pulled out a gun, pointed it at Floyd, who was in the driver’s seat, and told him to show his hands. When Floyd put his hands on the steering wheel, the officer returned his gun to his holster, according to the complaint.
Floyd was then pulled out of the car and arrested, at which time he “actively resisted being handcuffed,” the complaint said.
But then he became “compliant’ and walked with the two officers to a nearby sidewalk, where they sat him down, asked for his name and ID as well as whether he was “on anything,” and told him why he was being arrested.
The tone shifted when they stood up and began walking him to a squad car, the complaint said. Floyd apparently “stiffened up, fell to the ground and told the officers he was claustrophobic.”
That’s when Chauvin and his partner, Tou Cha, arrived in a separate squad car.
The officers reportedly continued to make “several attempts” to get Floyd into the squad car but he wouldn’t cooperate, according to the complaint. Instead he repeatedly fell down, said he wouldn’t get in the car and refused to stand still.
At that time — while Floyd was standing near the car — that Floyd began saying he couldn’t breathe, prompting Chauvin to go around to the passenger side of the squad to try and get him inside, according to the complaint.
Chauvin then pulled Floyd out of the squad at about 8:18 p.m. Floyd went down to the ground “face-down and still hand-cuffed.” The complaint did not clarify whether Chauvin took him down or went down on his own.
Lane and Kueng then held down his back and legs while Chauvin placed his left knee into Floyd’s head and neck as Floyd continually said “I can’t breathe,” “please” and “mama.”
None of the officers moved from their positions while Floyd pleaded, the complaint said.
At one point, Lane asked “Should we roll him on his side,” but Chauvin said: “No, staying put where we got him,” the complaint said.
Lane expressed concern about “excited delirium,” but Chauvin was resolute, saying, “that’s why we have him on his stomach,” the complaint said.
At 8:24 p.m. Floyd reportedly stopped moving, according to video footage, the complaint said. A minute later he stopped breathing or speaking.
That’s when Lane said again he wanted to roll Floyd to his side to check for a pulse, which couldn’t be found, according to the complaint. Nearly three more minutes passed until emergency responders arrived and Chauvin removed his knee from Floyd’s neck.
Floyd was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center a short time later.
The medical examiner still has to conduct a complete autopsy. But preliminary findings indicate it was a combination of the police restraint, Floyd’s pre-existing medical condition “potential intoxicants” in his system all contributed to his death, the complaint said.
Floyd’s health conditions include coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The findings do not indicate traumatic asphyxia or strangulation caused his death, according to the complaint.
Chauvin had his knee of Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, nearly three minutes of which were after Floyd had gone unresponsive, the complaint said.
“Police are trained that this kind of a restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous,” the complaint said.
Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington announced Chauvin’s arrest on Friday following a news conference with Gov. Tim Walz.
Harrington said he learned of the arrest as he was walking out of the earlier media briefing. Reporters were asked to return and Harrington made a brief statement.
During the news conference, Harrington, a former officer and St. Paul police chief, described Floyd’s death as “murder.”
“We’ll call it a murder,” he said. “That’s what it looked like to me.”