Police officer involved in the death of George Floyd, arrested for murder

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis officer involved in the demise of George Floyd has been arrested and charged with 3rd-degree murder.

Various reports coming in have it that the other 3 officers who stood by and watched are still under investigation, but there is yet to be charges filed against them.

Derek Chauvin, who lost his job on Tuesday along with three other officers involved in the detainment of Floyd, was taken into custody Friday and faces charges of 3rd-degree murder and manslaughter, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced.

3rd-degree murder is a crime committed without premeditation or intention to kill and involves murdering another person through inherent dangerous actions and with no respect for human life.

Freeman said he expected more charges to come, possibly against some of the other three officers. according to him during a news conference;

“The investigation is ongoing,” Freeman said, “We felt it was appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator. This case has moved with extraordinary speed.”
Just a day earlier, Freeman had said the case still needed more investigation. However, by Friday, Freeman said enough evidence had been gathered.
“All of that has come together and we felt, in our professional judgement, it was time to charge,” 

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI are both investigating Floyd’s death.

In a video shared online, Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe,” as Chauvin knelt on his neck for about nine minutes on Monday night, May 25.

The police department initially said George “physically resisted” the officers and that he died after “suffering medical distress.” Nevertheless, surveillance footage showing the onset of the arrest shows this wasn’t the case.

Security footage from a nearby restaurant revealed some of the events resulting to Floyd’s arrest. The video captures two police officers arriving at the scene around 8 p.m., removing George from a car parked on the street, handcuffing and questioning him before eventually walking him across the street as another police car arrives.
George didn’t appear to struggle in the video as claimed.

Before Floyd death, Derek Chauvin had hurt other civilians and was the subject of over a dozen prior police conduct complaints that led in no disciplinary action and one that led to a “letter of reprimand” during his career.

After Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Chauvin’s arrest, he was asked why the former police officer was not arrested and held before charges were filed.

Freeman replied: “This is by far the fastest we’ve ever charged a police officer.”

He added that normally it takes 9 months to investigate.

Freeman wouldn’t say if the protests in any way accelerated the arrest. He would not comment on what specific piece of evidence resulted to Chauvin’s arrest but said that his office had reviewed footage of Floyd’s death and the officer’s body-worn camera, spoken to witnesses and obtained a preliminary report from the medical examiner. Freeman said:

“We have now been able to put together the evidence that we need. Even as late as yesterday afternoon, we didn’t have all that we needed,” 

Freeman said he would not speculate about the three other officers involved in Floyd’s arrest but said he anticipates charges.