Murder of George Floyd

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face-down in the street. Two other police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Lane had also pointed a gun at Floyd's head before he was handcuffed. A fourth officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.

Before being placed on the ground, Floyd had exhibited signs of anxiety, complaining about claustrophobia and being unable to breathe. After being restrained, he became more distressed, still complaining of breathing difficulties, the knee on his neck, and fear of imminent death. After several minutes, Floyd stopped speaking. For the last few minutes, he lay motionless, and Kueng found no pulse when urged to check. Chauvin ignored bystanders' pleas to lift his knee from Floyd's neck. The next day, after videos recorded by witnesses and security cameras became public, the Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers. Two autopsies and one autopsy review found Floyd's death to be a homicide.

On March 12, 2021, Minneapolis agreed to pay US$27 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit brought by Floyd's family. On April 20, Chauvin was convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter, and on June 25 he was sentenced to 22+1⁄2 years in prison. All four officers faced federal civil rights charges. In December 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal charges of violating Floyd's civil rights by using unreasonable force and ignoring his serious medical distress. The other three officers were later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights. Lane pleaded guilty in May 2022 to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced on September 21, 2022, to three years in prison to be served concurrently with his federal sentence of 2+1⁄2 years. Kueng pleaded guilty on October 24, 2022, to state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter and was sentenced to 3+1⁄2 years in prison, to be served concurrently with his federal sentence. Thao waived his right to a jury trial on the state charge in lieu of a review of the evidence by a judge. He was found guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter in a written verdict delivered on May 2, 2023, and sentenced to 4+3⁄4 years in prison.

Floyd's murder led to worldwide protests against police brutality, police racism, and lack of police accountability.

People involved

George Floyd

George Perry Floyd Jr. was a 46-year-old Black American born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and raised in the Third Ward of Houston, Texas. In 2014, he moved to the Minneapolis area. He resided in the suburb of St. Louis Park, and was a frequent customer at the Cup Foods convenience store in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis.

Derek Chauvin

At the time of Floyd's murder, Derek Michael Chauvin, a White American, was a 44-year-old police officer who had served in the Minneapolis Police Department since 2001. Chauvin and Floyd sometimes worked overlapping shifts as security guards for a local nightclub, but the club's former owner was unsure of the extent of their acquaintance.

Tou Thao

Tou Thao, a Hmong-American, was 34 at the time of Floyd's murder. He had started as a part-time community service officer in 2008. He graduated from the police academy in 2009. After a two-year layoff, he resumed police work in 2012. Six complaints had been filed against Thao, none resulting in disciplinary action. In 2014, a man claimed Thao handcuffed him without cause, threw him to the ground, and punched, kicked, and kneed him; the man's teeth were broken and he was hospitalized. The resulting lawsuit was settled for $25,000. During the Floyd arrest, Thao kept bystanders away. He was found guilty of violating Floyd's civil rights.

J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane

J. Alexander Kueng, a Black American then aged 26, and Thomas Kiernan Lane, a White American then aged 37, were licensed as law enforcement officers in August 2019. They had trained together. Chauvin was the superior officer responsible for most of Kueng's field training. On May 3, 2020, video of an arrest incident in Minneapolis showed Chauvin, Kueng, Lane, and another officer roughly detaining a man on the ground as bystanders pleaded for them to show mercy. Kueng and Lane were with Chauvin as the day was part of their field training. The man, whom they detained wrongfully, said he had trouble breathing, and the incident was later said to be similar to Floyd's arrest. Kueng and Lane were in their first week as Minneapolis police officers when Floyd was murdered. Lane's application to join the police department had portions covering his criminal history redacted, including convictions for obstructing legal process and damaging property when he was 18. Kueng and Lane helped Chauvin hold Floyd down; both were found guilty of violating Floyd's civil rights. In October 2022, Kueng pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and in December 2022 he was sentenced to three and a half years in jail.

Arrest and murder

Initial events

On the evening of May 25, 2020, sometime before 8:00 pm, Floyd purchased cigarettes at Cup Foods, a grocery store at the intersection of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis's Powderhorn Park neighborhood. A Cup Foods employee believed Floyd had paid with a counterfeit $20 bill. Other employees approached Floyd while he was in his vehicle and demanded that he return the cigarettes; he refused. Another employee called the police to report that Floyd had passed "fake bills" and was "awfully drunk" and "not in control of himself". The store owner later said that most patrons who pay in counterfeit bills do not know they are fake, and that the store called the police to "make sure there is no crime being committed". The store's security camera recorded the interaction between Floyd and the employees.

At 8:08, Kueng and Lane arrived, briefly entering Cup Foods before crossing the street to Floyd's SUV, parked in front of a restaurant, Dragon Wok. Lane tapped his flashlight on the window, startling Floyd. He asked Floyd to show his hands, and tapped again when he did not obey. Floyd apologized as he opened the car door. Lane instructed him three more times to show his hands. Seconds after the door opened, he drew his gun and ordered Floyd to show his hands. When Floyd complied, Lane holstered his weapon. Someone parked behind Floyd's SUV began recording a video at 8:10. They briefly struggled, and Lane pulled Floyd from the SUV and handcuffed him. Two other people in the car with Floyd, including 45-year-old Shawanda Hill, were interrogated. At 8:12, Kueng sat Floyd on the sidewalk against the wall in front of the restaurant.

Lane asked Floyd if he was "on something right now", and Floyd replied "No, nothing". Kueng told Floyd he was acting "real erratic" and Floyd said he was scared. Kueng asked Floyd about foam around his mouth, to which Floyd responded that he had been "hooping" earlier. Floyd then said he was calming down, and remarked, "I'm feeling better now".

At 8:13, Kueng and Lane told Floyd he was under arrest and walked him to their police car across the street. The officers then leaned him against the car's door. Floyd told the officers that he was not resisting, but that he was recovering from COVID-19, that he was claustrophobic and had anxiety, and that he did not want to sit in the car. While Kueng and Lane attempted to put him in the car, Floyd begged them not to, repeatedly saying "I can't breathe" and offering to lie on the ground instead. A Minneapolis Park Police officer arrived and guarded Floyd's vehicle (across the street by the restaurant) and the two people who had been in it with Floyd.

At 8:17, Chauvin and Thao arrived in a third police car, joining Kueng and Lane, with Chauvin assuming command. He asked if Floyd was going to jail, and Kueng replied that he had been arrested for forgery. Floyd said, "I can't fucking breathe" twice. Cup Foods security footage shows Kueng struggling with Floyd for at least a minute around 8:18 in the driver's side backseat while Thao watches. According to The New York Times, at 8:19, Chauvin pulled Floyd across the backseat from the driver's side to the passenger side. Then, according to NPR, Floyd exited the vehicle while being pulled out by police and fell to the pavement.