Eight minutes changed the course of 2020.
It was Memorial Day. May 25. George Floyd was being arrested by Minneapolis police outside of a grocery store after authorities received a 911 call that someone paid with a counterfeit bill. The caller told authorities the man was acting erratically. Floyd, who is Black, matched the caller’s description of the suspect.
Minneapolis police officers responded and handcuffed Floyd. Shortly thereafter, Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was caught on camera kneeling on Floyd’s neck on the curb of the city street.
Floyd pleaded with Chauvin, gasping that he couldn’t breathe. He became unresponsive and later died at a nearby medical center.