Man who died in violent Minneapolis arrest was from Houston
MINNEAPOLIS - The man seen in the now-viral video being choked to death while on the ground by a Minneapolis Police Officer is George Floyd, originally from Houston.
Floyd is a well-known man from Third Ward who graduated from Yates High School in the 90s.
On Monday night, officers from the Minneapolis Police Department responded to a forgery in progress.
According to those officers, George Floyd appeared under the influence. After he was ordered to get out of his car, they claim Floyd started to resist them.
Floyd was handcuffed and ended up on the ground.
In the viral and disturbing cell phone video, you see a white officer, pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck.
Floyd is heard screaming, “I can’t breath” several times. Despite pleas from bystanders the officer keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck, who eventually lost consciousness.
Floyd was transported to the hospital and was pronounced dead.
Today the chief of the Minneapolis Police Department announced that the officer in the video and the other three officers involved have been fired from the department.
MORE: 4 Minneapolis police officers fired following death of George Floyd in police custody
"His children still don't understand the fact that police had to put the knee on the neck and we can't explain why the police did that," said Floyd's family attorney Benjamin Crump. "It makes no sense to anybody looking at this video, after not one minute, after two minutes ... eight minutes, why he is begging for his life, he still refuses to move his knee."
Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey backed the Minneapolis police chief in his decision to fire the officers, writing on Twitter: “Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated. This is the right call."
The FBI and Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension are investigating this incident.
There is a vigil being held in Floyd's honor Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Emancipation Park.