Minneapolis: Police officer charged with murder of G. Floyd

(Patria) – A police officer filmed by a mobile phone camera kneeling on the neck of an African American man who later died has been arrested and charged with third-degree murder.

Protests over the murder of George Floyd, which occurred on Tuesday in the American city of Minneapolis, have not subsided for four days, and the National Guard has been mobilized.

A video that has gone viral thanks to the internet shows a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, who has his hands cuffed, while he begs the officer to stop because he cannot breathe. Moments later, he becomes motionless.

His death has sparked mass protests in and around the city. The police headquarters, which was in the very center of the protests, was set on fire on Thursday evening after the police left the building. The National Guard has mobilized over 500 soldiers to suppress the protests.

Although the protests were mostly peaceful, demanding justice, fires were set in several buildings near the police headquarters, and a man was killed on Wednesday, police reported.

Protests have also spread to other American cities such as New York, Denver, Los Angeles, and Memphis, despite assembly bans. Demonstrators blocked traffic, and in some cases, clashes with police occurred.

Minneapolis police claim that George Floyd (46) was detained because he matched the description of a man who attempted to pay with a counterfeit bill at a store, and that he resisted arrest.  

The FBI has launched an investigation into the circumstances of Floyd's death. The police officer who held him on the ground with his knee, Derik Chauvin, was dismissed from service the day after the murder, as were three other police officers involved in the arrest, Euronews reports.

Reuters writes that protests are not subsiding even after Chauvin was charged with murder.