On May 25, in Minneapolis city of the US state of Minnesota, an unarmed African American man, George Floyd died while in police custody for allegedly committing forgery. The police had responded after receiving calls from a shopkeeper that someone was trying to pass counterfeit currency.
As per the reports and investigations until now, the victim died after a white police officer knelt on his neck despite Floyd’s repeated appeals that he cannot breathe. Floyd was handcuffed and taken away. The surveillance video showed that he complied with officers. Later mobile phone videos were taken by onlookers which further showed that the white police officer continued kneeling on Floyd’s neck while he was pinned to the ground. The policeman did not move for seven minutes despite protests from onlookers and by the time the policeman moved Floyd died.
According to the reports, the arrest of the officer on Friday came after three days of violent protests that resulted in fires and looting across parts of Minneapolis. Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said state investigators arrested Derek Chauvin, who was one of four officers fired this week, but he did not provide details. The evidence taken into consideration for the arrest of the official includes the viral citizen's video, witness reports and a preliminary report from the medical examiner.
The officials have not yet arrested or charged the other three officers involved but are continuing to investigate the evidence. Meanwhile, the officers involved in the incident have been fired and reportedly FBI is involved in investigating the case
(With inputs from Associated Press and PTI)