George Floyd was an African-American, born in North Carolina, raised in Houston Texas and died during a police arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. After a recording emerged of how he had died in the hands of police, kneeling on his neck and him saying ‘I can’t breathe’ multiple times, nationwide protests quickly spread across America and internationally in response to his death and more broadly to police violence against black Americans.
George's life had its highs and lows, but h... moreGeorge Floyd was an African-American, born in North Carolina, raised in Houston Texas and died during a police arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25, 2020. After a recording emerged of how he had died in the hands of police, kneeling on his neck and him saying ‘I can’t breathe’ multiple times, nationwide protests quickly spread across America and internationally in response to his death and more broadly to police violence against black Americans.
George's life had its highs and lows, but his friends and family called him ‘Big Floyd’ and described him as "a gentle giant". At 6 ft 4 in at the time of death, George was a talented athlete who particularly excelled in football and basketball at Yates High School where he played on the school teams and helped lead the football team to the Texas state championships. He graduated in 1993 and later attended South Florida Community College for two years and played on its basketball team before moving to Texas A&M University–Kingsville, where he also played basketball, but subsequently dropped out and began making music with a hip-hop group called the Screwed Up Click.
After he struggled to find work in Houston, he left the city for Minneapolis where he worked two jobs, one driving trucks and another as a security guard at Latin American restaurant Conga Latin Bistro. George Floyd was charged in 2007 with armed robbery in a "home invasion" and was sentenced to five years in prison, at the Diboll Unit, after a plea deal in 2009. After spending four years in prison, he was paroled and moved to Minneapolis in 2014. He took jobs driving a truck and providing security at a restaurant and in 2017, he filmed an anti-gun violence video.
Floyd was arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20.00 bill at a nearby market, and he was pinned to the ground by police officer Derek Chauvin. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree and third-degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter, while three other officers involved in the incident were sacked and later charged with aiding and abetting murder. Chauvin was convicted on two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter on April 20, 2021.The trial of the other three officers at the scene of his death is scheduled to begin August 23, 2021. The City of Minneapolis settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Floyd's family for $27 million. After Floyd's death, demonstrations and protests against police brutality took place worldwide despite the fact that many were observing social distancing and self isolation in line with the COVID 19 pandemic. Most media houses ran significant coverage of the events which garnered a lot of reactions and discussions about police brutality and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
