When former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was arrested on Friday on third-degree murder charges, more details emerged on how George Floyd died while in police custody on Monday.
According to a report prepared by prosecutors in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes, 46 seconds. For the final two minutes and 53 seconds, prosecutors said, Floyd was unresponsive.
Police body cams showed that at 8:24:24, Floyd stopped moving. At 8:25:31, video showed that Floyd stopped talking and breathing. It was not until 8:27:24 when video showed that Chauvin removed his knee from Floyd’s neck, prosecutors said.
The prosecution’s report said that “police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous.”
After Chauvin lifted his knee, Floyd was placed on a gurney and taken to the hospital, where he pronounced dead.
The county medical examiner reported to prosecutors that several factors likely contributed to Floyd’s death.
“The autopsy revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation,” the report read. "Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
To read the full arrest report, click
here.
