How did George Floyd die? With images from bystanders and surveillance cameras, The New York Times reconstructed his fatal confrontation with the police. Minute per minute.
On May 25, Minneapolis city officials arrested George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, after a store worker accused him of paying for a pack of cigarettes with a $20 counterfeit note.
Seventeen minutes after the first police car arrived, Floyd lay unconscious on the ground, restrained by three officers.
By studying the video footage of bystanders and security cameras, along with the official documents and after consulting experts, The New York Times was able to reconstruct the minutes before Floyd’s death.
The day after George Floyd died, the four officers involved were fired.
Shortly after that, agent Derek Chauvin, who is clearly seen in the footage as the agent sitting on top of Floyd, was charged with murder.
Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, as he pleaded for help several times and indicated that he was out of breath.
Even when the emergency services arrived, Chauvin remained with his knee in the neck of the already unconscious Floyd for a full minute.
