WGeorge Perry Floyd Jr. was an African American man killed during an arrest after a store clerk alleged he had passed a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis. A white police officer named Derek Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for a period initially reported to be 8 minutes and 46 seconds. After his death, protests against police brutality, especially toward black people, quickly spread across the United States and internationally.
WOn May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, while being arrested for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. During the arrest Derek Chauvin, a white police officer with the Minneapolis Police Department, knelt on Floyd's neck for several minutes after he was already handcuffed and lying face down. Two police officers, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, assisted Chauvin in restraining Floyd, while another officer, Tou Thao, prevented bystanders from interfering with the arrest and intervening as events unfolded.
WOn June 4, 2020, amid the George Floyd protests in New York state, police officers from the Buffalo Police Department pushed 75-year-old Martin Gugino during a confrontation in Buffalo's Niagara Square, causing him to fall to the ground which left him bleeding from the ear. Gugino was seriously injured, sustaining a brain injury, and was still unable to walk nearly two weeks later. He was hospitalized for nearly four weeks.
WOn June 1, 2020, amid the George Floyd protests in Washington, D.C., law enforcement officers used tear gas and other riot control tactics to forcefully clear peaceful protesters from Lafayette Square and surrounding streets, creating a path for President Donald Trump and senior administration officials to walk from the White House to St. John's Episcopal Church. Trump held up a Bible and posed for a photo op in front of Ashburton House, which had been damaged by a fire during protests the night before.
WThe George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020 is a civil rights and police reform bill drafted by Democrats in the United States Congress, including members of the Congressional Black Caucus. The legislation was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 8, 2020. The legislation aims to combat police misconduct, excessive force, and racial bias in policing.
WThe George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act of 2020 (LETIA) is a subtitle of the Justice in Policing Act of 2020 which aims to reduce the prevalence of police brutality by fostering connections between police departments and communities. The bill also calls for national policing standards and accreditations.
W"I can't breathe" is a slogan associated with the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. The phrase originates from the last words of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man who was killed in 2014 after being put in a chokehold by New York City Police. A number of other African-Americans, such as Javier Ambler, Manuel Ellis, Elijah McClain, and George Floyd, have said the same phrase prior to dying during similar law-enforcement encounters. According to a 2020 report by the New York Times, the phrase has been used by over 70 people who died in police custody.
WThe George Floyd protests are an ongoing series of police brutality protests that began in Minneapolis in the United States on May 26, 2020. Civil unrest and protests began as part of the international responses to the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who was killed during an arrest after Derek Chauvin, a Minneapolis Police Department officer, knelt on Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as three other officers looked on and prevented passers-by from intervening; originally widely reported as eight minutes 46 seconds, prosecutors acknowledged an error and revised the length of time to seven minutes 46 seconds. The reported 8:46 time span became a focus of commemorations and debates, especially around Blackout Tuesday. Chauvin and the other three officers involved were later arrested.