The Minneapolis Police Department has fired four officers following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died on Monday after a video surfaced online showing an officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed on the ground, shouting that he couldn’t breathe.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced their terminations during a news conference, The Huffington Post reports. He did not publicly identify the officers.
“This is the right call,” Mayor Jacob Frey wrote of the firings in a Facebook post.
Bystander video that circulated on social media shows an officer pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck, while Floyd is pinned face-down on the street. Floyd can be heard repeatedly pleading with officer to get up.
“Please man, I can’t breathe,” Floyd says. “I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe.”
Within minutes, the video shows Floyd closing his eyes and no longer speaking. The officer appears to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck, even as onlookers begin shouting that he isn’t moving, demanding that officers help him. The video shows a second officer nearby, looking in the direction of onlookers.
Police called for an ambulance but the man was pronounced dead after arriving at a hospital, the Minneapolis Police Department said in a press release.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
