Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was taken into custody Friday by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the state’s Department of Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said.
George Floyd, 46, was killed Monday following an arrest for alleged fraud. Video taken by a bystander shows officer Chauvin pressing his knee into the neck of Floyd, who is restrained on the ground and unarmed.
Witnesses can be seen and heard on various videos taken by bystanders, yelling at officer Chauvin to ‘get off him‘, ‘he can’t breath‘ and ‘you are killing him‘. Officer Chauvin kept his knee on the neck of Floyd for a total of 8-minutes – despite Floyd’s clear deterioration of health.
Officer Chauvin was one of four officers involved in the ‘arrest’ of Floyd and citizens from around the world are calling for the arrest of all four involved officers.
Chauvin’s professional past has also come into play during the FBI investigation into Floyd’s death, siting 17 formal complaints made against Chauvin and involvement in multiple officer involved shootings.
The Fraternal Order of Police issued a statement Thursday condemning the killing.
“Based on the by-stander’s video from this incident, we witnessed a man in distress pleading for help,” FOP President Patrick Yoes said in the statement. “The fact that he was a suspect in custody is immaterial — police officers should at all times render aid to those who need it. Police officers need to treat all of our citizens with respect and understanding and should be held to the very highest standards for their conduct.”
The charges against Chauvin were not immediately available.
This is a developing story.