George Floyd's Law-Breaking: A Comprehensive Overview

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old bouncer, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a store clerk suspected he might have used a counterfeit $20 bill. Police officers arrived on the scene and forcibly removed him from his car, handcuffing him. Derek Chauvin, one of the police officers, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for over nine minutes, fatally asphyxiating him. Before his death, Floyd had a criminal history, including drug possession, theft, and aggravated robbery.

George Floyd's drug addiction

George Floyd's struggles with drug addiction were well-documented. He and his girlfriend, Courteney Ross, were both addicted to opioids, specifically painkillers, and tried many times to break their addiction. Ross testified that she believed addiction was a "lifelong struggle" and something she would "deal with forever".

Floyd's addiction was also mentioned in his autopsy, which found fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system at the time of his death. In March 2020, Ross drove Floyd to the emergency room after he overdosed on opioids. In the months that followed, the pair spent a lot of time together during the coronavirus quarantine, and Floyd was clean. However, Ross suspected that he started using drugs again about two weeks before his death in May 2020.

Floyd's drug addiction was also used as a defence argument in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer who knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, killing him. Chauvin's defence attorney, Eric Nelson, repeatedly brought up Floyd's drug use during the trial, arguing that his death was caused by drugs, his underlying health conditions, and his adrenaline.

His use of counterfeit money

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old bouncer, entered Cup Foods, a grocery store in Minneapolis, and bought cigarettes with what was believed to be a counterfeit $20 bill. The cashier, 19-year-old Christopher Martin, immediately suspected the bill was counterfeit and offered to pay for Floyd's cigarettes himself.

Martin told his manager about the situation, and after Floyd refused to return to the store to talk to the manager, the police were called. Surveillance footage from the store showed Martin holding the $20 bill up to the light, noticing that it had a blue pigment similar to that of a $100 bill. Earlier that day, Martin had refused to accept a similar bill from a man who was with Floyd. That man later tore the bill in half and threw it to the ground.

When the police arrived, they removed Floyd from the car and handcuffed him. Derek Chauvin, one of the four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for over nine minutes, fatally asphyxiating him. During this time, Floyd repeatedly stated that he could not breathe.

Floyd's death sparked global protests against police brutality, especially towards Black people, and led to calls for police reform and an end to systemic racism. Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The three other officers involved in Floyd's arrest were also later convicted of violating his civil rights.

Derek Chauvin's knee-on-neck restraint

On May 25, 2020, Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, knelt on George Floyd's neck and back for over nine minutes, fatally asphyxiating him.

Chauvin's use of his knee on Floyd's neck was not a technique taught by the police when instructing officers how to restrain people, according to Lt. Johnny Mercil, who has been in charge of teaching the use of force in the Minneapolis Police Department's training division. Mercil added that a "knee on the neck would be something that does happen in the use of force that is not unauthorized." However, he clarified that the method would not be authorized if the subject is under control and handcuffed.

At the time of Floyd's arrest, the Minneapolis Police Department's Policy and Procedure Manual stated that an officer:

> shall only use the amount of force that is objectively reasonable in light of the facts and circumstances known to that [officer] at the time force is used.

The manual further defined a neck restraint as:

> compressing one or both sides of a person's neck with an arm or leg, without applying direct pressure to the trachea or airway (front of the neck).

The policy allowed for two types of neck restraints: the first, called a "conscious neck restraint," involved light pressure applied to the neck to control a person without rendering them unconscious. The second type, an "unconscious neck restraint," involved officers using their arms or legs to knock out a person by pressing on the carotid arteries on either side of the neck, blocking blood flow to the brain. This type of restraint was only permitted if the subject was "exhibiting active aggression" or actively resisting, and only if lesser attempts to control the person had failed or were likely to fail.

Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, argued that Chauvin followed policy and "did exactly as he was trained to do." He also claimed that Chauvin's knee was actually between Floyd's shoulders "at the base of the neck." However, use-of-force expert LAPD Sgt. Jody Stiger, who testified for the prosecution, agreed with Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo that Chauvin violated department policies when he pinned Floyd to the pavement. Stiger stated that once Floyd was placed in the prone position on the ground and slowly ceased his resistance, the officers should have slowed down or stopped their use of force. He also noted that officers are always trained to stay away from the neck as much as possible.

The Minneapolis Police Department banned all forms of neck restraints and chokeholds weeks after Floyd's death.

The role of the other three officers

On May 25, 2020, four Minneapolis police officers—Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao—were involved in the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. While Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, the other three officers played a role in his death as well. Here is an overview of their actions and the consequences they faced:

J. Alexander Kueng

Kueng, a 26-year-old Black American, was one of the first two officers to arrive at the scene, along with Lane. He helped restrain Floyd and applied pressure to his torso while Chauvin knelt on his neck. During the incident, Kueng found that Floyd had no pulse but did not attempt to provide medical assistance. He was charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and was later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights. In October 2022, he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison.

Thomas Lane

Lane, a 37-year-old white American, was the other initial responding officer with Kueng. He drew his gun on Floyd and was also involved in restraining him. Lane asked Chauvin twice if they should move Floyd onto his side but was told no. He was charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and was later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights. In May 2022, he pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Tou Thao

Thao, a 34-year-old Hmong-American, arrived with Chauvin as the third and final police car to arrive. He prevented bystanders from intervening during the incident. Thao claimed that he was unaware of Floyd's medical distress and thought he was breathing because he was not administered CPR. He was charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter and was later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights. He waived his right to a jury trial and was found guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter by a judge. Thao was sentenced to 4.75 years in prison.

The actions of these three officers, along with Chauvin, led to widespread protests against police brutality and racial injustice, not just in the United States but globally. The case brought attention to the use of excessive force by law enforcement and the lack of accountability for officers who commit such acts. The Minneapolis Police Department and its practices came under intense scrutiny, leading to investigations and reviews by various entities, including the United States Department of Justice.

The charges and convictions

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, was murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Floyd was arrested after a store clerk reported that he had used a counterfeit $20 bill to purchase cigarettes.

Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street. Two other police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Lane had also pointed a gun at Floyd's head before he was handcuffed. A fourth police officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.

Floyd exhibited signs of anxiety, complaining about having claustrophobia and being unable to breathe. After being restrained, he became more distressed, still complaining of breathing difficulties, the knee on his neck, and fear of imminent death. After several minutes, Floyd stopped speaking. For the last few minutes, he lay motionless, and Kueng found no pulse when urged to check. Despite this, Chauvin ignored bystanders' pleas to lift his knee from Floyd's neck.

The next day, after videos recorded by witnesses and security cameras became public, the Minneapolis Police Department fired all four officers. Two autopsies and one autopsy review found Floyd's death to be a homicide.

Chauvin was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. In early June, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded the charges, and Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. He was convicted on all three counts on April 20, 2021, and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison on June 25, 2021.

Lane, Kueng, and Thao were initially charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Lane pleaded guilty in May 2022 to a state charge of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced on September 21, 2022, to three years in prison to be served concurrently with his federal sentence of 2.5 years.

Kueng pleaded guilty on October 24, 2022, to the state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter and was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, to be served concurrently with his federal sentence.

Thao waived his right to a jury trial on the state charge in lieu of a review of the evidence and a determination by a judge. He was found guilty of aiding and abetting manslaughter in a written verdict delivered on May 2, 2023, and sentenced to 4.75 years in prison.

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