FBI probes murder of black man by white policemen in Minneapolis

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is probing the death of a black American male identified as George Floyd shortly after he was apprehended by Minneapolis police Monday, after disturbing video emerged on social media showing a police officer with his knee on the man’s neck as the man repeatedly yells out, “I can’t breathe.”

“I can’t breathe, please, the knee in my neck,” the man said in a video showing a police officer pinning him to the ground. “I can’t move … my neck … I’m through, I’m through.”

Protesters gathered Tuesday evening at the Third Precinct and also at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, the site where the incident occurred, Minneapolis ABC affiliate KSTP reported.

AFP, an international news agency, had reported that four police officers involved in the tragic incident were sacked Tuesday as a video showing one of them kneeling on the neck of the handcuffed black man sparked street protests in the midwestern US city.

Protesters, many wearing face masks because of the coronavirus outbreak, held signs saying “Justice for George Floyd” and “Black Lives Matter” during a rally near the scene of Monday’s death in custody.

In the video filmed by a bystander, a shirtless Floyd – thought to be in his 40s – is pinned on the ground by a white officer who kneels on his neck for more than five minutes.

“Your knee in my neck. I can’t breathe… Mama. Mama,” Floyd pleaded.

Floyd slowly grew silent and motionless, unable to move even as the officers taunted him to “get up and get in the car.”

He was taken to hospital where he was later declared dead.

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After firing the four officers involved, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey expressed outrage as calls rose for them to be prosecuted for murder.

“What I saw was wrong at every level,” he said of the video.

“For five minutes, we watched as a white officer pressed his knee into the neck of a black man,” Frey added.

“Being black in America should not be a death sentence.”

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said he had been retained by Floyd’s family.

In a statement, Crump said Floyd had been stopped by police over a forgery accusation, a charge often used for writing bad checks or using fake banknotes for purchases.

“This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning on a non-violent charge,” he said.

Floyd’s death recalled the 2014 choking death of New Yorker Eric Garner by police, who was being detained for illegally selling cigarettes.

His death helped spark the nationwide Black Lives Matter movement.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said he had passed the case to the FBI for investigation, which could turn it into a federal rights violation case.