Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer seen in a viral video with his knee on George Floyd’s neck before he died, was taken into custody Friday and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
John Harrington, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, made the announcement today during a news conference.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman also weighed in and said the development “is by far the fastest we’ve ever charged a police officer.”
Related Story: CNN Reporter Arrested on Live TV While Covering Minneapolis Protests
Video recorded by an onlooker showed Floyd, an African American man, pleading for his life Monday night, as police officer Chauvin, who is white, applied pressure to his neck with a knee. As minutes passed, Floyd stopped talking and moving.
The four officers involved were fired Tuesday after the bystander’s video taken outside a Minneapolis grocery store went viral.
The Minneapolis Police Department said the officers were responding to a forgery call at the grocery store. Police said Floyd matched the description of a suspect in the case.
The officers alleged Floyd “physically resisted” after he got out of his car, but surveillance video from a nearby Minneapolis restaurant contradicted the police account and showed Floyd appearing to comply with the officers’ demands.