George Floyd died on May 25 after a Minnesota police officer pressed a leg against his neck for more than eight minutes.
After the coronavirus pandemic locked the entire country in their homes, Floyd's death brought millions of people to the streets to protest the historically most devastating police brutality on the black population.
"My dad changed the world," said Gianna, Floyd's six-year-old daughter.
Roxie Washington kisses Gianna Floyd, George Floyd's daughter, during her funeral at The Fountain of Praise Church.
The death of George Floyd
The Minneapolis (Minnesota) police received a 911 call from a convenience store employee, who alerted that a man, apparently intoxicated and out of control, had bought a pack of cigarettes with a
fake $ 20 bill.
.
When officers arrived at the scene, they forced the man out of his vehicle and tried to load him into a patrol car.
The man was George Floyd, 43, who had just lost his job at a restaurant due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to documents reviewed by The New York Times, Floyd resisted getting on the patrol, claiming to be claustrophobic.
Although officers managed to get him into the back seat of the vehicle, police officer Derek Chauvin pulled him out, for no apparent reason, and immobilized him on the floor.
Video recorded by security cameras and by witnesses who were at the scene show that Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd's body for more than eight minutes.
"I can't breathe!"
Floyd repeated 16 times, while two other officers pressed his torso and legs.
Eventually George Floyd lost consciousness and passed away in the ambulance.
Chauvin kept pressing his knee to Floyd's neck two minutes after he was knocked unconscious.
A black man dies who was immobilized by a white policeman despite his cries for help
May 26, 202000: 43
An independent autopsy concluded that Floyd died due to sustained pressure on his neck and back, which cut off blood flow to his brain.
A Minnesota coroner also ruled that the cardiopulmonary arrest was caused by pressure on the neck.
“For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse.
Without a doubt, he would be alive today if it weren't for the pressure applied to his neck by Officer Derek Chauvin and the tension on his body from two additional officers kneeling over him, ”said the family's attorney, Ben Crump.
Chauvin, 44, was charged with unintentional second degree murder and released on probation after posting a million dollar bond.
Officers Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng were charged as
accomplices
, on charges of aiding and abetting a second degree murder.
Police officers Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao, charged in the murder of George Floyd.AP
Protests against police brutality
The day after Floyd's death, hundreds of people demonstrated around a Minneapolis police station.
By June 6, half a million people were protesting in 550 places around the country.
According to different polls, between 15 and 26 million people in total joined the demonstrations.
From the beginning, some of the protests began peaceful and then turned violent.
On the second night of the demonstrations in Minneapolis, a man was shot and killed while several stores were looted and burned.
Protests over George Floyd's death spread around the world
June 2, 202000: 30
Videos taken by witnesses during various protests show police officers in cities like New York abusing the use of force against protesters.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists,
291 journalists
in charge of covering the demonstrations were detained or attacked by the police.
The protests fueled other cases of excessive use of police force, including the death of Breonna Taylor, who was shot while sleeping at home during a police raid for drugs that had nothing to do with it.
A police officer was fired in connection with his death.
The fight against racial discrimination led to statues of historical figures considered racist, related to slavery or to the oppression of minorities.
An attempt to topple a statue in Albuquerque of a conquistador resulted in a shootout, and several people were arrested in Miami after attempting to remove a statue of Christopher Columbus.
Others were beheaded or vandalized.
Regarding the request to remove the statue of former President Theodore Roosevelt, the president, Donald Trump, said it seemed "ridiculous."
Police use chemical irritants to disperse protesters in Portland, Oregon.AP
What changed after Floyd's death?
Throughout the protests, Trump maintained his support for the police.
He falsely claimed that the protesters were violent and that "without police there is chaos."
In June, he announced an executive order with a police reform that prohibits strangulation "except in cases of life or death."
However, the reform only encourages the application of better police practices, it
does not oblige their application
.
The president also refused to withdraw funds or dismantle police departments.
Minneapolis bans its cops from using the strangulation tactics used against George Floyd
June 6, 202000: 20
The Minneapolis, Nevada, Texas and Washington DC police departments also
banned the use of strangulation
during arrest, and unannounced police raids were suppressed in Louisville, where Breonna Taylor was killed.
The New York police announced that they will dismantle an anti-crime unit of 600 officers who act on the streets in plain clothes.
For his part, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra presented proposals to reform police practices in the state.
While all the modifications necessary to end systemic racial profiling are still a long way off, the movement that has been driven since Floyd's death has sparked
more debate about racism in everyday American life.
Media outlets such as The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer fired publishers after publishing texts that sparked controversy among employees and readers.
Some
companies have also initiated changes
to add older black people to their ranks: For example, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has stepped down from his company's board of directors to have his place filled by a black person, according to Business Insider.
A protester and a policeman hold hands during a clash at a protest over the death of George Floyd.AP
On the other hand, citizens have become much more vigilant about cases of racial discrimination.
A public database, run by attorney T. Gregg Doucette and mathematician Jason Miller, collects all recorded cases of police brutality in the country.
Viral videos like that of a woman who called 911 because a black man asked her to put his dog on a leash are getting more attention, and they lead to real consequences.
Floyd's death thus went beyond the issue of police brutality and focused on racial discrimination and the way it has spread through justice, entertainment and in the day-to-day life of American society.
With information from The New York Times,
BBC News
,
Committee to Protect Journalists, Business Insider.
