It’s a Monday night in Minneapolis. Police reply to a name a few man who allegedly used a counterfeit $20 invoice to purchase cigarettes. Seventeen minutes later, the person they’re there to analyze lies immobile on the bottom, and is pronounced lifeless shortly after. The man was 46-year-old George Floyd, a bouncer initially from Houston who had misplaced his job at a restaurant when the coronavirus pandemic hit. Crowd: “No justice, no peace.” Floyd’s demise triggered main protests in Minneapolis, and sparked rage throughout the nation. One of the officers concerned, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with second-degree homicide. The different three officers have been charged with aiding and abetting homicide. The Times analyzed bystander movies, safety digital camera footage and police scanner audio, spoke to witnesses and consultants, and reviewed paperwork launched by the authorities to construct as complete an image as attainable and higher perceive how George Floyd died in police custody. The occasions of May 25 start right here. Floyd is sitting within the driver’s seat of this blue S.U.V. Across the road is a comfort retailer known as Cup Foods. Footage from this restaurant safety digital camera helps us perceive what occurs subsequent. Note that the timestamp on the digital camera is 24 minutes quick. At 7:57 p.m., two workers from Cup Foods confront Floyd and his companions about an alleged counterfeit invoice he simply used of their retailer to purchase cigarettes. They demand the cigarettes again however stroll away empty-handed. Four minutes later, they name the police. According to the 911 transcript, an worker says that Floyd used pretend payments to purchase cigarettes, and that he’s “awfully drunk” and “not in control of himself.” Soon, the primary police car arrives on the scene. Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng step out of the automotive and strategy the blue S.U.V. Seconds later, Lane pulls his gun. We don’t know precisely why. He orders Floyd to place his fingers on the wheel. Lane reholsters the gun, and after about 90 seconds of backwards and forwards, yanks Floyd out of the S.U.V. A person is filming the confrontation from a automotive parked behind them. The officers cuff Floyd’s fingers behind his again. And Kueng walks him to the restaurant wall. “All right, what’s your name?” From the 911 transcript and the footage, we now know three vital info: First, that the police believed they had been responding to a person who was drunk and uncontrolled. But second, despite the fact that the police had been anticipating this case, we will see that Floyd has not acted violently. And third, that he appears to already be in misery. Six minutes into the arrest, the 2 officers transfer Floyd again to their car. As the officers strategy their automotive, we will see Floyd fall to the bottom. According to the legal complaints filed in opposition to the officers, Floyd says he’s claustrophobic and refuses to enter the police automotive. During the battle, Floyd seems to show his head to handle the officers a number of occasions. According to the complaints, he tells them he can’t breathe. Nine minutes into the arrest, the third and remaining police automotive arrives on the scene. It’s carrying officers Tou Thao and Derek Chauvin. Both have earlier information of complaints introduced in opposition to them. Thao was as soon as sued for throwing a person to the bottom and hitting him. Chauvin has been concerned in three police shootings, one among them deadly. Chauvin turns into concerned within the battle to get Floyd into the automotive. Security digital camera footage from Cup Foods exhibits Kueng scuffling with Floyd within the backseat whereas Thao watches. Chauvin pulls him by means of the again seat and onto the road. We don’t know why. Floyd is now mendacity on the pavement, face down. That’s when two witnesses start filming, virtually concurrently. The footage from the primary witness exhibits us that every one 4 officers are actually gathered round Floyd. It’s the primary second once we can clearly see that Floyd is face down on the bottom, with three officers making use of strain to his neck, torso and legs. At 8:20 p.m., we hear Floyd’s voice for the primary time. The video stops when Lane seems to inform the individual filming to stroll away. “Get off to the sidewalk, please. One side or the other, please.” The officers radio a Code 2, a name for non-emergency medical help, reporting an damage to Floyd’s mouth. In the background, we will hear Floyd struggling. The name is rapidly upgraded to a Code 3, a name for emergency medical help. By now one other bystander, 17-year-old Darnella Frazier, is filming from a special angle. Her footage exhibits that regardless of requires medical assist, Chauvin retains Floyd pinned down for one more seven minutes. We can’t see whether or not Kueng and Lane are nonetheless making use of strain. Floyd: [gasping] Officer: “What do you want?” Bystander: “I’ve been —” Floyd: [gasping] In the 2 movies, Floyd may be heard telling officers that he can’t breathe a minimum of 16 occasions in lower than 5 minutes. Bystander: “You having fun?” But Chauvin by no means takes his knee off of Floyd, at the same time as his eyes shut and he seems to go unconscious. Bystander: “Bro.” According to medical and policing consultants, these 4 cops are committing a sequence of actions that violate insurance policies, and on this case, flip deadly. They’ve saved Floyd mendacity face down, making use of strain for a minimum of 5 minutes. This mixed motion is probably going compressing his chest and making it unattainable to breathe. Chauvin is pushing his knee into Floyd’s neck, a transfer banned by most police departments. Minneapolis Police Department coverage states an officer can solely do that if somebody is, quote, “actively resisting.” And despite the fact that the officers name for medical help, they take no motion to deal with Floyd on their very own whereas ready for the ambulance to reach. Officer: “Get back on the sidewalk.” According to the complaints in opposition to the officers, Lane asks him twice if they need to roll Floyd onto his facet. Chauvin says no. Twenty minutes into the arrest, an ambulance arrives on the scene. Bystander: “Get off of his neck!” Bystander: “He’s still on him?” The E.M.T.s examine Floyd’s pulse. Bystander: “Are you serious?” Chauvin retains his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly one other complete minute, despite the fact that Floyd seems fully unresponsive. He solely will get off as soon as the E.M.T.s inform him to. Chauvin saved his knee on Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes, based on our overview of the video proof. Floyd is loaded into the ambulance. The ambulance leaves the scene, probably as a result of a crowd is forming. But the E.M.T.s name for extra medical assist from the fireplace division. But when the engine arrives, the officers give them, quote, “no clear info on Floyd or his whereabouts,” based on a hearth division incident report. This delays their capacity to assist the paramedics. Meanwhile, Floyd goes into cardiac arrest. It takes the engine 5 minutes to achieve Floyd within the ambulance. He’s pronounced lifeless at a close-by hospital round 9:25 p.m. Preliminary autopsies performed by the state and Floyd’s household each dominated his demise a murder. The broadly circulated arrest movies don’t paint the complete image of what occurred to George Floyd. Crowd: “Floyd! Floyd!” Additional video and audio from the physique cameras of the important thing officers would reveal extra about why the battle started and the way it escalated. The metropolis rapidly fired all 4 officers. And Chauvin has been charged with second diploma homicide. Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao had been charged with aiding and abetting homicide. But outrage over George Floyd’s demise has solely unfold additional and additional throughout the United States.