Ex-Minneapolis cop charged with murder in death of George Floyd

Tape of the arrest, which was caught by onlookers, shows Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as Floyd, who is handcuffed, cries out that he cannot breathe.

Chauvin, 44, was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Under the Minnesota penal code, third-degree murder involves “perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind” but without the intent to cause death. 

A conviction for third-degree murder has a maximum possible sentence of 25 years in prison, and second-degree manslaughter carries a max of 10 years.

The complaint, released Friday, accuses Chauvin of having his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, including for nearly three minutes after Floyd was nonresponsive. 

“Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous,” the complaint reads. 

According to the complaint, preliminary findings from the Hennepin County Medical Examiner do not support a diagnosis of strangulation, but suggest that Floyd’s underlying heart conditions, combined with the police restraint and “potential intoxicants in his system” likely contributed to his death. 

In a statement, Floyd’s family called the arrest a “welcome but overdue step on the road to justice.”

“We expected a first-degree murder charge. We want a first-degree murder charge. And we want to see the other officers arrested,” they said in a statement issued by their attorney Ben Crump.

The other officers involved in the arrest were Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng. All four were fired on Tuesday. Freeman said Friday that he anticipated charges for the other officers but did not go into detail. 

Efforts to reach the officers or their attorneys have been unsuccessful. 

The incident recalled the 2014 death of Eric Garner, a black man who died gasping “I can’t breathe” while a white New York police officer, Daniel Pantaleo, grasped his neck and wrestled him to the ground.

The New York City Medical Examiner ruled that the death was a homicide, but Pantaleo was not charged with any crime. Because of the incident, “I can’t breathe” became a rallying cry at protests about police violence around the country. 

Floyd’s death prompted calls from local and national figures for Chauvin’s prosecution, and a federal investigation led by the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 

“The Department of Justice has made the investigation a top priority and has assigned experienced prosecutors and FBI criminal investigators to the matter,” the agencies said in a joint statement Thursday.

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/29/former-officer-involved-in-death-of-george-floyd-has-been-arrested.html