George Perry Floyd Jr. was a black American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill, on May 25, 2020. Derek Chauvin, one of four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, causing his death from a lack of oxygen. After his murder, protests against police brutality, especially towards black people, quickly spread across the United States and globally. His dying words, "I can't breathe", became a rallying slogan.
Memorial to Floyd two days after his murder
The carriage carrying Floyd's casket to his burial in Pearland, Texas, on June 9, 2020
Tributes and mural outside Cup Foods, where Floyd was murdered
Makeshift memorial near site of murder
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old white police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk alleged that he made a purchase using a counterfeit $20 bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face-down in a 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 Floyd was handcuffed. A fourth police officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from intervening.
The intersection of Chicago Avenue and E. 38th Street on May 30, where Floyd was murdered just left of the awning
Hennepin County Government Center, the venue of the Chauvin trial, April 20, 2021
Security fencing at the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in Saint Paul, Minnesota, January 23, 2022
A protest sign at George Floyd Square on May 18, 2021, referencing the three other officers