Warning: Linked video contains graphic images and explicit language
A disturbing video surfaced online Monday night that captured part of a police encounter with a suspect being pinned on the ground by several officers with the Minneapolis Police Department, one of them appeared to have a knee on the suspect’s neck for several minutes. The man died a short time later.
The incident which began as a police call Monday evening regarding a man suspected of offering a counterfeit bill at the Cup Foods store in south Minneapolis has now turned into a multi-prong death and civil rights investigation involving the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and has resulted in the firing of four officers.
The man who died following the police encounter has now been identified as 46-year-old George Perry Floyd.
The 10-minute video was apparently filmed by a bystander outside Cup Foods at the corner of East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue South in Minneapolis, MN starting at an unspecified time after police arrived at the location on Monday May 25.
The video starts with the apparent suspect, Floyd, already on the ground and does not show the initial arrival of police or any activity prior to Floyd being face down on the ground in a prone position with one officer’s knee visibly restraining Floyd on his neck.
TIMELINE AND POLICE DISPATCH AUDIO
A compilation of recorded police dispatch audio related to the incident indicates that police were dispatched to the location at approximately 8:04 p.m. on a report that a male had used a counterfeit bill at the business, Cup Foods. The dispatcher relayed that the suspect, a black male approximately 6’ or taller, was sitting on the hood of a blue Mercedes and was possibly intoxicated.
The audio indicates that police Squad 320 arrived at approximately 8:09 p.m., at which time an officer aired the license plate of the vehicle in which Floyd was apparently sitting. Shouting and loud voices can be heard in the background of the dispatch and the dispatcher requested that other squads respond to assist the squad already on scene.
At approximately 8:10 p.m., an officer aired that they were “taking one out” of the vehicle and the dispatcher replied that other squads were en route.
The original responding Squad 320 aired at approximately 8:12 p.m. that they were “Code 4” (in Minneapolis, “Code 4” generally means that police are indicating to the dispatcher that they have the situation under control). At the same time, Squad 330 aired that they had also arrived and were possibly joined by Squad 310, according to the audio.
At approximately 8:19 p.m., Squad 320 aired a request for EMS to respond “Code 2” for “bleeding from the mouth” (in Minneapolis, a “Code 2” response request usually indicates a routine response, as opposed to an emergency response requiring lights and siren). Again, other voices could be heard in the background of the dispatch, and the officer indicated that they were still “Code 4” for EMS to arrive.
Within two minutes, at approximately 8:21 p.m., Squad 310 aired a request to the dispatcher for EMS to respond “Code 3” (in Minneapolis, this generally means emergency, responding with lights and sirens).
At approximately 8:26 p.m., the dispatcher aired that EMS was on the way at Portland Avenue South and East 36th Street – still two blocks north and two blocks west away from the incident location.
About six-and-a-half minutes into the bystander video, the EMS rig can be seen behind the officers and Floyd and then EMS personnel can be seen apparently checking for Floyd’s pulse.
The video shows an apparently unconscious and still handcuffed Floyd being loaded into the EMS rig.
At 8:34 p.m., the dispatcher aired to squads still on scene that EMS was now requesting the Minneapolis Fire Department to respond to the EMS rig, which had apparently left the scene with Floyd and was then at East 36th Street and Park Avenue, because the “patient” was in “full arrest.” Shortly thereafter, Squad 330 aired that they were responding to the EMS rig, and an officer from Squad 320 also indicated that he was responding to the EMS rig location, according to the audio.
IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH
The Minneapolis Police Department issued a statement overnight on their website stating that a man had died following a “medical incident during a police interaction.”
The statement said that the man had “resisted” officers after being asked to step out of the vehicle. After the man was handcuffed, officers noted that he appeared to be “suffering medical distress” and they called an ambulance. The man was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died a short time later. The statement further said that body-worn cameras were on and activated during the incident and that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was being called to investigate the incident.
At a press conference held on Tuesday afternoon, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said that the four officers involved, who have not been publicly named yet, had been fired, and that the FBI would also be investigating the matter in addition to the BCA. According to a report by the Associated Press, the FBI will be conducting a civil rights investigation into the incident.
Earlier on Tuesday, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called the death of Floyd “messed up.”
Prominent civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump announced on Twitter Tuesday that he’d been retained by Floyd’s family to represent them in possible legal action against the City of Minneapolis. The announcement highlighted the racial component of the encounter with the officer being white and Floyd being black.
During the Tuesday press conference, community leaders spoke and acknowledged that this is a “volatile situation” and urged those angered by the incident to remain calm and not do something to “exacerbate the pain” on the community.
A demonstration was held Tuesday evening at the site of the incident with several thousand people in attendance.
Stay with Alpha News for updates to this developing story.
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Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota
Crime Watch MN
Minnesota Crime Watch & Information publishes news, info and commentary about crime, public safety and livability issues in Minneapolis, the Twin Cities and Greater Minnesota.
