Logan Reid
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, who knelt on his neck for over nine minutes while he was handcuffed and lying face down on the street. Floyd's murder sparked protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement across the world. While the presence of fentanyl and other drugs in Floyd's system was noted, the official autopsy report concluded that he died from cardiopulmonary arrest due to law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. This was supported by a second autopsy conducted by experts hired by Floyd's family, who concluded that he died of asphyxiation due to pressure on his neck and back during restraint.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of Death | May 25, 2020 |
| Time taken to kill | 9 minutes and 29 seconds |
| Place of Death | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Cause of Death | Homicide due to cardiopulmonary arrest from law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression |
| Other causes of death | Asphyxia, lack of oxygen, and restricted breathing |
| Drugs in the system | Fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other toxic drugs |
| Underlying medical conditions | Coronary artery disease, hypertension, and high blood pressure |
| Age | 46 years |
| Race | Black |
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What You'll Learn
- George Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin, a police officer
- Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest, not an overdose
- Floyd's death sparked protests against police brutality around the world
- A lung expert testified that Floyd died because his breathing was restricted
- Four police officers faced prison time for their role in Floyd's death
George Floyd was killed by Derek Chauvin, a police officer
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street. Two other police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Lane had also pointed a gun at Floyd's head before he was handcuffed. A fourth police officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.
Before being placed on the ground, Floyd had exhibited signs of anxiety, complaining about having claustrophobia and being unable to breathe. After being restrained, he became more distressed, still complaining of breathing difficulties, of the knee on his neck, and of fear of imminent death. In the nine minutes and 29 seconds that Chauvin knelt on his neck, Floyd's heart and lungs stopped functioning.
Floyd's killing sparked protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in over 2,000 cities in the United States and worldwide. The area near the location where Floyd was killed became a makeshift memorial, with many placards paying tribute to him and referencing the Black Lives Matter movement.
Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. Kueng, Lane, and Thao were also found guilty of violating Floyd's civil rights and given prison time for their roles in his death. They also face separate state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter.
While Floyd's autopsy report revealed the presence of fentanyl and other drugs in his system, experts concluded that he did not die of an overdose or because of his drug use. His death was ruled a homicide due to "cardiopulmonary arrest" from "law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."
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Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest, not an overdose
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death, at the hands of a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, sparked protests against police brutality and racism in over 2,000 cities across the United States and around the world.
Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street. Two other police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Lane had also pointed a gun at Floyd's head before he was handcuffed. A fourth police officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.
Floyd's cause of death became a crucial element in the trial of Derek Chauvin. Forensic pathologists and medical examiners testified that Floyd died from cardiopulmonary arrest, caused by law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression. Cardiopulmonary arrest refers to the stopping of the heart and lungs. In this case, it was brought on by a lack of oxygen due to the position of Floyd's body during restraint.
Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner, conducted the initial autopsy and determined that Floyd's death was a homicide. He noted that Floyd's heart and lungs stopped functioning due to the restraint and compression applied by the police officers. While Floyd had underlying health conditions, including heart disease, and drug use (fentanyl and methamphetamine were found in his system), these were not the direct cause of his death. Baker's autopsy made no mention of asphyxiation as a cause of death.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Floyd's family concluded that he died of "asphyxiation from sustained pressure" when his neck and back were compressed by the officers, cutting off the blood flow to his brain. This autopsy was performed by Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson, who both stated that pressure on Floyd's neck and back during restraint led to his death from asphyxia.
While fentanyl was present in Floyd's system, it was not the primary cause of his death. Dr. Lindsey Thomas, a forensic pathologist, testified that the amount of fentanyl in Floyd's body was not sufficient to cause death, as he had built up a high tolerance for the drug through prolonged use. Additionally, the manner of Floyd's death was not consistent with a methamphetamine overdose, which typically occurs suddenly, unlike the prolonged nature of Floyd's death.
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Floyd's death sparked protests against police brutality around the world
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on the street. Two other police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Lane had also pointed a gun at Floyd's head before he was handcuffed. A fourth police officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.
Floyd's murder sparked protests against police brutality, police racism, and lack of police accountability worldwide. In the United States, protests against racial injustice in mid-2020 were the largest since the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and gave way to widespread civil unrest. Protests began locally in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area before quickly spreading nationwide and to over 60 countries internationally in support of Black Lives Matter. Over 2,000 cities in the United States saw demonstrations as of June 13, with many protests involving die-ins, where protesters lay down for 8 minutes and 46 seconds—the length of time Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck. While most protests were peaceful, some cities descended into riots, looting, and street skirmishes, with significant police brutality against peaceful protesters and reporters.
The protests sparked by Floyd's murder were part of a broader movement against historic racism and social injustice, connecting these issues to contemporary examples of police brutality. This movement was still active in Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere as of May 2021. In Canada and France, activists were unsatisfied with the levels of reform made by officials nearly a year after Floyd's murder. In Australia, the Black Lives Matter movement sparked calls for white people to be more aware of race relations within the country, with "Australia Day" being renamed "Invasion Day" to acknowledge the colonial history of Australia and the massacres of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In Nigeria, many protests took place in October 2020 surrounding police brutality. On October 20, 2020, unarmed protesters were shot by nearby police forces, resulting in 20 casualties. This event, known as Black Tuesday or the Lekki tollgate massacre, brought increased attention to the ENDSARS movement in Nigeria, which seeks to end the country's Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) due to reports of torture and extrajudicial killings.
Floyd's murder also led to a federal review of the Minneapolis Police Department by the United States Department of Justice. The report, released in June 2023, found that the city's police had a pattern of using excessive force, disproportionately searching and stopping Black and Native American people, violating the free-speech rights of protesters, and discriminating against people with behavioral health disabilities during emergency responses.
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A lung expert testified that Floyd died because his breathing was restricted
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. The murder sparked mass protests in over 2,000 cities in the United States and around the world, demanding justice for George Floyd and demonstrating against police brutality.
During the trial, a lung expert, Dr. David Systrom, testified that George Floyd died because his breathing was restricted. Systrom, a pulmonologist and critical care physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said that Floyd's upper airway was compressed by Officer Derek Chauvin's knee, while his position on the hard asphalt with his hands cuffed behind his back, held down by two other officers, did not allow his lungs to expand. This restricted the flow of oxygen and raised carbon dioxide levels in his body. Systrom also stated that Lane's restriction of Floyd's legs prevented him from getting into a position to breathe properly.
Dr. Andrew Baker, Hennepin County's chief medical examiner, testified that Floyd died after police "subdual, restraint, and neck compression" caused his heart and lungs to stop functioning. He said that heart disease and drug use were factors but not the primary causes. Systrom agreed with this, stating that Floyd did not die of his coronary artery disease or hypertension and that there was no evidence of a heart attack.
Other medical experts, including Dr. Martin Tobin, a pulmonologist and critical care doctor, also testified that Floyd's death was caused by a lack of oxygen due to the way he was restrained. Tobin told the jury that the officers made it harder for Floyd to breathe by pushing the handcuffs into his back and raising his wrists higher as he lay on the street. He said that Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck for more than 90% of the time, and the pressure would have made it enormously more difficult to breathe.
The prosecution in the trial of Derek Chauvin argued that Floyd died from a lack of oxygen, challenging some aspects of Dr. Baker's findings. They introduced insufficient oxygen as the cause of death, a term that was not used in the official autopsy report.
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Four police officers faced prison time for their role in Floyd's death
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was killed in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a white police officer. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while he was handcuffed and lying face down on the street. Three other police officers—J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao—assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd. Before being restrained, Floyd exhibited signs of anxiety and complained about his claustrophobia and inability to breathe. During the incident, he repeatedly stated that he could not breathe and expressed fear of imminent death.
After videos recorded by witnesses and security cameras became public, all four officers were fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. Two autopsies and one autopsy review found Floyd's death to be a homicide. On April 20, 2021, Chauvin was convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison.
The other three officers—Kueng, Lane, and Thao—were charged with aiding and abetting murder and violating Floyd's civil rights. They faced federal charges of abusing their positions as police officers, depriving Floyd of his constitutional rights, and failing to give medical aid. In May 2021, all four officers were indicted on federal charges of civil rights violations. In February 2022, a federal jury found Thao, Kueng, and Lane guilty of federal civil rights offenses, including deprivation of Floyd's constitutional rights and deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. Lane pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting manslaughter and was sentenced to three years in prison, completing his sentence and being released in August 2024.
The death of George Floyd sparked widespread protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, with calls for reform and defunding of police departments. The case highlighted issues of race discrimination and flawed training within the Minneapolis Police Department, leading to a federal investigation and charges against the four officers involved in Floyd's death.
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Frequently asked questions
No, George Floyd died on the street.
George Floyd's death was ruled a homicide. His initial autopsy concluded that his heart and lungs stopped functioning while he was being restrained by police officers. A second autopsy determined that Floyd died of asphyxiation.
Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck, was found guilty and sentenced to more than 22 years in prison. Three other officers, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, were also given prison time for their role in Floyd's death.
