Minneapolis - The white Minneapolis
policeman who pinned an unarmed black man with a knee to the
throat before the man died was arrested and charged with murder,
a prosecutor said on Friday, after three nights of violent
protests rocked the Midwestern city.
Derek Chauvin, the officer seen on a bystander's cellphone
video kneeling on George Floyd's neck on Monday before the
46-year-old man died, has been charged with third-degree murder
and manslaughter, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman told a
news briefing.
"He is in custody and has been charged with murder," Freeman
said of Chauvin. "We have evidence, we have the citizen's
camera's video, the horrible, horrific, terrible thing we have
all seen over and over again, we have the officer's body-worn
camera, we have statements from some witnesses."
The cellphone footage showed Floyd repeatedly moaning and
gasping while he pleaded to Chauvin, kneeling on his neck,
"Please, I can't breathe." After several minutes, Floyd
gradually grows quiet and ceases to move.
Chauvin and three fellow officers at the scene were fired on
Tuesday from the Minneapolis Police Department. The city
identified the other officers as Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J
Alexander Kueng.
In this frame from video provided by Darnella Frazier, a Minneapolis officer kneels on the neck of a handcuffed man who was pleading that he could not breathe in Minneapolis. Picture: Darnella Frazier via AP
Freeman said the investigation into Chauvin - who, if
convicted, faces up to 25 years in prison on the murder charge -
was ongoing and that he anticipated charges against the other
officers. He said it was appropriate to charge "the most
dangerous perpetrator" first.
Earlier on Friday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called for an
end to the violent protests, which have included arson, looting
and the burning down of a police precinct, while promising a
reckoning with the racial inequities behind the unrest.
"None of us can live in a society where roving bands go
unchecked and do what they want to, ruin property," Walz said.
"We have to get back to that point of what caused this all to
happen and start working on that."
Protesters hold signs and walk past a line of police in downtown Columbus, Ohio, during a demonstration over the death of George Floyd in police custody Monday in Minneapolis. Picture: (Barbara J. Perenic/The Columbus Dispatch via AP
The protests, which threatened to stretch into a fourth
night, have been driven in part by a lack of arrests in the
case.
Responding to a reporter's question about why the officers
were not arrested sooner, Freeman stressed that charges in
similar cases would typically take nine months to a year.
"This is by far the fastest we've ever charged a police
officer," said Freeman. "We entrust our police officers to use a
certain amounts of force to do their job, to protect us. They
commit a criminal act if they use that force unreasonably."