Authorities arrest officer in Floyd death

The Minneapolis police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck during an arrest on Monday is in custody and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington said on Friday that state investigators have arrested Derek Chauvin, who was dismissed from the force along with three other officers on Tuesday after a bystander’s video recorded the white officer’s restraint of Floyd, who is African American and later died.

Meanwhile, protesters on Thursday evening set off fireworks and set fire to the 3rd Police Precinct station in Minneapolis. The precinct covers the area where Monday’s incident took place. A police spokesman confirmed the staff had evacuated the building ahead of the violence “in the interest of the safety of our personnel.” The Minnesota National Guard said it activated more than 500 soldiers across the metro area as the protests persisted.

Has the unrest extended to other states? On Thursday, protesters in Denver blocked traffic while demonstrators in New York City clashed with police, defying a public-gathering ban. Police in Louisville, Ky., said seven people sustained gunshot wounds during a protest Thursday night as the city reeled from a separate case involving Breonna Taylor, a black woman whom police shot dead while serving a search warrant at her home in March.

Dig deeper: Read Marvin Olasky’s recommendations for books about African American experiences in the United States.

Editor’s note: WORLD has updated this report since its initial posting.