Officers Chauvin and Tou Thoa arrived in a separate squad car and attempted to get Floyd into the car, according to the complaint. While standing outside the car, Floyd began saying that he could not breathe.
Chauvin forced Floyd to the ground and placed his knee on his head, the complaint continues. The other officers stayed in their positions as Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe,” and “Mama,” and “Please.”
According to the complaint, Lane asked “should we roll him on his side?” and Chauvin answered, “No, staying put where we got him.” Officer Lane said, “I am worried about excited delirium or whatever,” to which Chauvin responded, “That’s why we have him on his stomach.”
When Floyd stopped moving and became unresponsive, Kueng checked for a pulse and said he couldn’t find one.
Two minutes later, Chauvin removed his knee from Floyd’s neck and the ambulance arrived.
Floyd was pronounced dead later at Hennepin County Medical Center.
All four officer[s] were fired the next day, after video of the incident taken by a bystander, came to light.
Chauvin was arrested on Friday. The other three officers are currently under investigation.
Minneapolis County District Attorney Mike Freeman said the investigation is ongoing involving the other three officers, saying, “We felt it appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator.”
The arrest comes after three days of protests, which escalated in violence as demonstrators torched a police precinct that had been abandoned by officers.
This story was updated. An earlier version suggested that the medical examiner said strangulation was the cause of George Floyd’s death.