Breaking: Police Officer Arrested In Connection With George Floyd’s Death (Update Added)
[guest post by Dana]
After a night of escalating violence and protest in Minneapolis and St. Paul, it was just announced that an arrest has been made in connection with George Floyd’s death:
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin has been arrested in connection with the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
Minnesota Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Mark Harrington reappeared at the podium Friday after a news conference ended, saying that the BCA has arrested Chauvin. He did not have any information about specific charges.
Multiple sources confirmed to KARE 11 that Chauvin was the officer seen on video with his knee on Floyd’s neck before he died.
P.S. NBC has released a video that appears to show that there were three officers on the ground with George Floyd (including Chauvin), with a fourth officer standing over the group.
UPDATE: Chavin arrested on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges:
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said Friday that he expects charges will be filed against the three other officers who were involved in George Floyd’s death following the arrest Friday afternoon of former Officer Derek Chauvin…
He declined to discuss the evidence that led to Chauvin’s arrest one day after he said authorities needed more time to gather evidence. He said among the items authorities reviewed were the video shot by bystander Darnella Frazier which sparked widespread outrage on social media, Chauvin’s body camera footage and a preliminary report from the medical examiner.
Freeman announced Friday that Chauvin was arrested on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Floyd’s death. He was taken into custody by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
–Dana
UPDATE BY PATTERICO: It is good that Chauvin has been arrested for murder. It is bad that it appears to be in response to widespread and violent rioting. By the way: the appearance is not necessarily accurate; law enforcement could have been waiting for the coroner’s opinion as to cause of death. But the appearance is awful.
UPDATE BY DANA: You can read the seven-page complaint here.
UPDATE BY DANA: I’ve copy/pasted a critical portion of the complaint filed against Chauvin. Notice the time increments, notice how Chauvin refused to repostion Floyd, notice how, after an officer said he was unable to locate a pulse that Chauvin kept his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck. And mostly, notice the lack of response or intervention by the other police officers as a man lay dying. They did absolutely nothing to help Floyd. To the contrary:
