Officers fired after black man dies in police custody

MINNEAPOLIS – A black man has died in Minneapolis police custody after video shared online from a bystander showed a white officer kneeling on his neck during his arrest as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said Tuesday that the four responding officers involved in the incident have been fired and identified the victim as George Floyd.

Frey announced the dismissals on Twitter, saying “This is the right call.”

Floyd’s death Monday night after a struggle with officers is under investigation by the FBI and state agents. The incident drew comparisons to the case of Eric Garner, an unarmed black New York man who died in 2014 after he was placed in a chokehold by police and pleaded for his life saying he couldn’t breathe.

Prior to the firings, Frey apologized Tuesday to the black community in a post on his Facebook page.

“Being Black in America should not be a death sentence. For five minutes, we watched a white officer press his knee into a Black man’s neck. Five minutes. When you hear someone calling for help, you’re supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic, human sense,” Frey posted.

‘Man, I can’t breathe’

Minneapolis police said Floyd matched the description of a suspect in a forgery case and resisted arrest. The video shows an unidentified officer kneeling on his neck and ignoring his pleas.

“Please, please, please, I can’t breathe. Please, man,” Floyd is heard telling the officer.

After several minutes, one of the officers tells Floyd to “relax.” “Man, I can’t breathe,” he responds. Minutes pass and the man becomes motionless under the officer’s restraint. The officer leaves his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes more.

Several witnesses had gathered on a nearby sidewalk, with some recording on their phones. Bystanders became increasing agitated as Floyd pleaded with police. One bystander tells officers that they need to let him breathe. Another yelled at the officers to check the man’s pulse.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, speaking to reporters Tuesday, was asked about the use of the knee on the man’s neck during the arrest.

“We clearly have policies in place regarding placing someone under control,” Arradondo said, explaining that those policies “will be part of the full investigation we’ll do internally.”

The New York City officer in the Garner case said he was using a legal maneuver called “the seat belt” to bring down Garner, whom police said had been resisting arrest. But the medical examiner referred to it as a chokehold in the autopsy report and said it contributed to his death. Chokehold maneuvers are banned under New York police policy.

In Minneapolis, kneeling on a suspect’s neck is allowed under the department’s use-of-force policy for officers who have received training in how to compress a neck without applying direct pressure to the airway. It is considered a “non-deadly force option,” according to the department’s policy handbook.

A chokehold is considered a deadly force option and involves someone obstructing the airway. According to the department’s use-of-force policy, officers are to use only an amount of force necessary that would be objectively reasonable.

Messages left with the police officers’ union were not immediately returned.