Video After The Jump
MINNEAPOLIS — Agents from the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) have been called in to investigate possible civil rights violations after a man died while in Minneapolis police custody Monday, an incident that was videotaped and is creating strong reaction on social media.
Squads were called to the 3700 block of Chicago Avenue South shortly after 8 p.m. on reports of a forgery in progress. According to a press release from Minneapolis Police, they were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a vehicle and appeared to be under the influence.
Police arrived and found the man, described as being in his 40s, inside his car. He was told to get out of his car by the officers, and proceeded to physically resist them, according to the police press release.
A videotape that appears to capture the encounter shows an officer kneeling on the man's neck as he begs for help, saying "I cannot breathe." After several minutes, the man on the ground stops moving. Police called an ambulance and the suspect was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Early Tuesday Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey appeared at a media briefing with Chief of Police Medaria Arradondo. Frey was emotional and clearly rattled by the video clip he had watched, and in his words, replayed over and over in his mind as he searched for words to describe what he had seen.
"He should not have died," Frey said definitively. "For five minutes we watched as a white officer pressed his knee to the neck of a black man. For five minutes. When you hear someone calling for help, you are supposed to help. This officer failed in the most basic human sense. What happened on Chicago and 38th this last night was simply awful."
Frey then apologized to the family of the man, identified as George Floyd, and the black community of Minneapolis.
The officer involved has been identified as Derek Chauvin.
Source: Kare 11
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