Four Minneapolis police officers fired after man’s death

A video taken by a bystander showed a white Minneapolis police officer pressing his knee on an African American man’s neck for several minutes during an arrest on Monday night. The man, identified by family members as George Floyd, stopped moving and later died. The FBI and state agencies are investigating the incident. The four officers involved in the arrest, including Derek Chauvin, who was the officer on top of Floyd according to his attorney, lost their jobs on Tuesday. “This is the right call,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey tweeted in response to the firings. Police in riot gear confronted protesters who took to the streets on Tuesday night and caused damage to a police precinct station.

Why did officers arrest and restrain Floyd? He matched the description of a suspect in a forgery case at a grocery store and resisted arrest. While on the ground, Floyd is heard saying, “Please, please, please, I can’t breathe.” The incident drew comparisons to the 2014 case of Eric Garner, a black man in New York City who died after he said he could not breathe when a police officer placed him in a chokehold.

Dig deeper: Read Rachel Lynn Aldrich’s report in The Sift about the officer who lost his job over his role in Garner’s death.

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