On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was killed during an arrest by police officer Derek Chauvin. The event, which was captured on video by people and shared globally on social media, sparked a wave of protests against racial injustice and brutality.
The incident began when a store clerk reported that George Floyd had attempted to purchase cigarettes using a counterfeit $20 bill. Four police officers, Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, responded to the call. They approached Floyd, who was sitting in a parked car nearby.
Body camera footage showed that Officer Lane immediately drew his gun and pointed it at the unarmed Floyd. After forcing him out of the vehicle, officers handcuffed Floyd and moved him across the street to a police cruiser. Floyd resisted getting into the vehicle, and a crowd began to gather. While attempting to place Floyd into a police vehicle, Floyd fell face down to the ground in a state of distress.
Seventeen-year-old Darnella Frazier began recording the interaction on her phone. Officers Kueng and Lane held Floyd’s legs and wrists while Officer Chauvin pressed his knee firmly into Floyd’s neck.
Despite Floyd repeatedly stating “I can’t breathe”, Chauvin maintained the restraint. Floyd’s nose started bleeding, and he was losing consciousness. Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for around nine minutes, continuing even after paramedics arrived. Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The initial official statement issued by the Minneapolis Police Department claimed that Floyd had died from a “medical incident” while resisting officers. However, this narrative was quickly dismantled when Darnella Frazier posted her bystander video online.
The video went viral on Twitter and Instagram, reframing the narrative as a clear case of social justice and violence. Social media helped raise rapid awareness and organize people at very short notice.
Within days, demonstrations started across all states in America. The mobilization was so severe that over 200 cities implemented curfews, and the National Guard was called in. The movement quickly expanded internationally, bringing global solidarity to the Black Lives Matter movement and prompting worldwide scrutiny of systemic racism.
Following intense public outcry and internal reviews, all four officers were fired the day after the incident. Two separate autopsies, one conducted by the local government medical examiner and another commissioned by Floyd’s family, both ruled the death a homicide, confirming that Floyd died due to the restraint and neck compression.
In April 2021, Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in a state court and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. He later pleaded guilty to federal charges, resulting in a 21-year federal sentence to be served concurrently. The other three responding officers were also convicted in federal court and received prison sentences for their involvement.
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