With the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin underway, prosecutors and defense attorneys will ask jurors to consider in great detail the events that led to the death of George Floyd during his encounter with Minneapolis police on May 25. As Chauvin faces charges of murder and manslaughter, the case will center around exactly what killed Floyd after he was handcuffed and pinned to the ground for more than nine minutes. According to Star Tribune analysis of available video and news reports, here's a look at the incident that led to Floyd's death.
Step by step, here's how George Floyd's fatal encounter with police unfolded
According to a Star Tribune analysis of available video and news reports, here's a look at the incident that led to George Floyd's death on May 25.
April 1, 2021 at 5:24PM
1. Around 8 p.m. May 25, 2020, police were called to investigate a report of someone who paid with a counterfeit $20 bill at Cup Foods, 3759 Chicago Av.
2. Two rookie police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, found a man matching the suspect's description parked in a car across the street from Cup Foods on E. 38th St. and arrested him.
3. Lane and Kueng escorted a handcuffed Floyd to their vehicle in front of Cup Foods, where there was a struggle to get him into the vehicle. Officers Tou Thao and Chauvin arrived. Floyd fell out the back passenger side of the vehicle as Lane pulled on him. Chauvin pulled Floyd aside after the officers struggled to place him back inside, and the officers flipped him onto his stomach.
4. From the sidewalk, Darnella Frazier, a teenager, recorded video on her phone of the police officers and Floyd on the street. At approximately 8:20 p.m. the video shows the officers restraining Floyd, with Chauvin keeping his knee on Floyd's neck, Kueng kneeling on his back and Lane kneeling on and restraining his legs while Thao attempts to block a growing crowd of onlookers on the sidewalk in front of Cup Foods. Six of those bystanders would appear as witnesses during the second day of Chauvin's murder trial, and three additional bystanders testified during the trial's third day. Eventually, Floyd stopped moving and appeared unresponsive as the officers continued to restrain him.
5. A short time later, paramedics arrive and place Floyd onto a gurney and into an ambulance. He was taken to HCMC, where Floyd was pronounced dead at 9:25 p.m.
Chao Xiong, Matt DeLong and Josh Penrod contributed information to this report.
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