KEY POINTS

  • Video showed the late George Floyd pinned to the ground with an officer’s knee on his neck
  • Floyd’s family want murder charges for the four officers involved
  • Mayor Jacob Frey fired the police officers before protests erupted in Minneapolis

The family of George Floyd, the previously unnamed black man who died in police custody, said it wants murder charges filed against the four Minneapolis officers involved in his death.

Floyd’s brother Philonise told CNN that police “treated him like an animal” when a white officer chose to restrain him with a knee to his neck instead of using other means of arrest.

Police initially said that Floyd died at Hennepin County Medical Center after experiencing “medical distress” during his arrest.

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Tera Brown, Floyd’s cousin, told CNN that none of the officers tried to help him when they heard him saying, “I can’t breathe.”

“They were supposed to be there to serve and to protect and I didn't see a single one of them lift a finger to do anything to help while he was begging for his life,” Brown said.

Brown and Floyd’s brothers describe him as a “gentle giant” who “didn’t hurt anybody.”

Protests erupted in Minneapolis Tuesday night (May 26) at the same intersection where Floyd was held for more than seven minutes on the ground.

Thousands of protesters marched to protest Floyd’s death but spread out to maintain social distancing.

A small group of individuals started vandalizing the building of the 3rd Precinct and spray painting police cars.

Police in riot gear later confronted protesters as they marched to the police station. They fired projectiles and deployed tear gas that some protesters later kicked back when rain started to fall.

Police initially said that they were responding to a forgery in progress when they found Floyd in his car. They also claimed that Floyd resisted arrest and noticed he was suffering from “medical distress.”

The Vvdeo of Floyd’s arrest showed him shirtless on the ground, pleading with police officers while one of them had a knee to his neck. Bystanders tried to intervene while Floyd grew silent and motionless.

Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey fired the four officers following Floyd’s death and expressed outrage as calls rose for them to be prosecuted for murder.

“Being black in America should not be a death sentence,” Frey said.

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