Four members of the Floyd family, including his seven-year-old daughter Gianna, gave statements before the sentencing
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd, has been sentenced to 22 years and six months for second-degree murder, closing one chapter of a case that thrust the issue of race and American policing back into the global spotlight.
Related: Protests erupt in Minneapolis over man fatally shot by deputies
Continue reading...Driver arrested after being treated at an area hospital while police haven’t confirmed a motive for the attack
A woman is dead and three others injured after a car was driven into a crowd of anti-police brutality protesters in Minneapolis on Sunday night, Minneapolis police confirmed on Twitter.
The driver was arrested and is in police custody after being treated at an area hospital, according to police. The police have not confirmed a motive for the attack.
Continue reading...Nine arrested on possible charges including suspicion of riot and arson after Thursday shooting of Winston Boogie Smith Jr
Protesters faced off with police officers in Minneapolis early on Saturday over the shooting of a man by members of a US Marshals taskforce.
Related: Minneapolis removes barricades to reopen George Floyd Square to traffic
Continue reading...Workers began removing artwork and barricades from George Floyd Square, the memorial space constructed at the south Minneapolis intersection where George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer.
Barricades were being taken down to allow the intersection to be reopened to traffic, the city confirmed, but there were small demonstrations by community activists and local residents that opposed the reopening of the intersection at Chicago Avenue and 38th Street.
The space, which became a de facto autonomous zone, features memorials, community art, sculptures and often hosts performances and protests
Continue reading...An Associated Press journalist had to duck for cover during a report from George Floyd Memorial Square in Minneapolis as gunshots rang out nearby. Philip Crowther was covering the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death from the intersection where Floyd died and reported hearing about 30 gunshots from two blocks away. Local authorities later reported one person was treated for a non life-threatening gunshot wound. Marches and vigils were held across the US to mark one year since George Floyd’s death
Continue reading...Residents gathered across the city to honor Floyd and other victims of police violence, and vowed to hold officers accountable
In downtown Minneapolis, the city that was plagued with tension during the Derek Chauvin murder trial last month, a celebration of George Floyd’s life was held less than a mile from where the white former Minneapolis officer was convicted of all three counts of his murder.
The event, organized by the George Floyd Memorial Foundation, was filled with shrieks from children as they leapt in bouncy houses while others filled the air with bubbles. The smells from a dozen food trucks penetrated the space as people danced and basked in the sun.
Continue reading...Program starts with march led by the Rev Al Sharpton and Benjamin Crump to mark the anniversary of black man’s murder
Members of George Floyd’s family, and others who lost loved ones to police encounters, have joined crowds in Minneapolis for a march that was one of several events planned nationwide to mark the one-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.
Hundreds of people gathered on Sunday for the rally in front of the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis where a month ago former policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering the black man by kneeling on his neck.
Continue reading...A year ago, Christopher Martin took an allegedly counterfeit bill. The police were called, and shortly after, Floyd would be dead
Christopher Martin lived above a bricked grocery store in south Minneapolis, with a maroon awning and bold red signage that reads Cup Foods. So when a cashier’s position came up last year, he took it without thinking.
He quickly learned the regulars’ orders by heart, their specific tobacco preferences, their favored snacks. The job was more than just a paycheck. “A family, community base,” he remembered. “A lot of jokes and laughs.”
Continue reading...A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and murder, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air, according to indictments unsealed on Friday.
The three-count indictment on civil rights charges names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J Kueng and Tou Thao.
Continue reading...The department has seen decades of reform efforts, but activists say racism and violence are too ingrained to eliminate
As Derek Chauvin crushed George Floyd’s neck under his knee, slowly killing him, a police officer who had just joined the force repeatedly asked Chauvin if they should adjust Floyd’s position. Chauvin, a 19-year-veteran of the department, refused.
That precise interaction – an experienced officer training younger officers to act violently – was not a one-time failure, but a “systemic” problem within the Minneapolis police department, according to RT Rybak, who served as Minneapolis mayor for 12 years.
Continue reading...Hundreds of mourners filled a Minneapolis church for the funeral of Daunte Wright after the 20-year-old was killed two weeks ago by a police officer who said she mistook her gun for a Taser. The funeral came two days after the city's streets were filed by people celebrating the conviction of a former police officer for murdering George Floyd. Civil rights leader Al Sharpton was among those who delivered a eulogy and called for police reform. 'The time has come for police to understand they're not above the law, they're to enforce the law,' he said
Continue reading...The US justice department announced on Wednesday that it is launching a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis, less than a day after a white former officer was convicted of murdering George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, there.
The investigation will examine the use of force by police officers, including force used during protests, and whether Minneapolis police engage in discriminatory practices, the US attorney general, Merrick Garland, said in Washington DC on Wednesday morning.
Continue reading...Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, a crime that prompted waves of protests in support of racial justice in the US and across the world.
The jury swiftly and unanimously convicted Chauvin of all the charges he faced – second- and third-degree murder, and manslaughter – after concluding that the white former Minneapolis police officer killed the 46-year-old Black man in May through a criminal assault, by pinning him to the ground so he could not breathe.
Continue reading...Members of George Floyd’s family choked back tears while speaking of their relief that the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder in their brother's death. ‘Today, we are able to breathe again,’ George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd told reporters. The Floyd family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, said they were leaving the court knowing ‘that America is a better country’
US president Joe Biden and vice president Kamala Harris have spoken of the need to dismantle systemic racism during an address to the nation following the guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin’s murder case. 'Today, we feel a sigh of relief', Harris said. 'Still, it cannot take away the pain. A measure of justice isn’t the same as equal justice.' Biden said 'such a verdict is also much too rare', adding that saying systemic racism is 'a stain on our nation’s soul'
Derek Chauvin has been convicted of murder for killing George Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes, a crime that prompted a wave of protests in support of racial justice in the US and across the world. The jury swiftly and unanimously convicted Chauvin of all the charges he faced – second and third degree murder, and manslaughter – after concluding that the white former Minneapolis police officer killed the 46-year-old black man through a criminal assault by pinning him to the ground so he could not breathe properly. A lack of oxygen in turn caused brain damage, heart failure and death in May last year
Crowds gathered outside a courtroom in Minneapolis reacted in jubilation when jurors returned a verdict of guilty on all three charges against the former police officer Derek Chauvin, on trial for the klling of 46-year-old George Floyd
Continue reading...Analysis: The testimony against the ex-officer was damning – it was clear this case was different from so many that had come before
The trial saw 44 witnesses and 15 days of testimony. And, in the end, less than a day to decide that Derek Chauvin, the white former Minneapolis police officer, was guilty of murdering George Floyd.
It is a landmark moment not just in the history of US policing and criminal justice, but around the world. George Floyd’s death came to embody the struggle for racial justice and equality in so many ways they are impossible to condense: from forceful calls for police reform in Minneapolis and new legislation in Washington, to a reckoning on the history of British imperialism in the UK and a resurgence in activism over Indigenous deaths in custody in Australia.
Continue reading...George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white police officer touched off a new civil rights uprising that rippled across the world
The jury’s guilty verdict on the former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd signaled the conclusion of a historic police brutality trial and a key moment for policing and for the battle for racial equality in America.
Observers have talked about this case being so significant that it will stand as a watershed between the way law enforcement was held to account in the US before George Floyd was pinned by the neck under Chauvin’s knee, and after.
Continue reading...The Derek Chauvin murder trial heard closing arguments on Monday before the jury began considering a verdict over the death of George Floyd that is anxiously awaited by millions of Americans.
Related: Daunte Wright and George Floyd: another chapter in America’s recurring tragedy
Continue reading...