Derek Chauvin charged with 2nd-degree murder in George Floyd's killing, 3 other ex-cops involved charged with assisting him

• All four Minneapolis police officers who had a role in the killing of George Floyd on Memorial Day have now been arrested and face criminal charges.
• Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer, was charged on Friday with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on Wednesday added a second-degree murder charge against Chauvin.
• The three other officers — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane — were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
• "We are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd's body was laid to rest," said Ben Crump, the Floyd family's attorney.

All four Minneapolis police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd on May 25 now face criminal charges — three of them for the first time.

Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer, pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds and told him to "relax" as the 46-year-old black man repeated, "Please, I can't breathe." Chauvin was arrested on Friday on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.

On Wednesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison charged Chauvin with second-degree murder as well. The Star Tribune first reported the charges.

The three other officers — Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane — had so far only lost their jobs. They were also charged on Wednesday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. They were booked into the Hennepin County jail later in the evening.

Bail has been set at $1 million for Chauvin, the WCCO-TV reporter Jason DeRusha said, citing court records.

Aiding and abetting charges could result in the same penalty as second-degree murder

On Thursday, while hundreds mourned Floyd at a memorial service in Minneapolis, Judge Paul Scoggin set bail at $750,000 for Thao, Keung, and Lane, the Associated Press reported.

Pointing out that Lane had only been an officer for four days, his attorney, Earl Gray, argued for lower bail. Keung too was a rookie and it was his fourth day on the job, according to the AP.

Lane held Floyd's feet to prevent him from kicking and even administered CPR once Floyd had been loaded into the ambulance, Gray said, adding, "What was my client supposed to do but follow what his training officer said? Is that aiding and abetting a crime?"

If convicted, Chauvin could spend up to 40 years in prison for murder and 10 years for manslaughter. The AP reported that in the eyes of Minnesota law, aiding and abetting second-degree murder is equivalent to a second-degree murder charge. So, Thao, Lane, and Kueng could be handed the same prison sentences as Chauvin, if they are found guilty.

At a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Ellison promised to hold "everyone accountable for the behavior that we can prove in a court," adding, "If I don't charge it, it means that we did not have the facts to do that."

The United States has historically "underprosecuted these matters" and not held "public guardians accountable for their behavior in situations where we should have," eroding the public's trust, Ellison said.

"But we can't control the past," he added. "All we can do is take the case that we have in front of us right now and do our good-faith best and bring justice to the situation — and we will."

'A significant step forward on the road to justice'

Ben Crump, one of the attorneys representing Floyd's family, called it a "bittersweet moment."

"We are deeply gratified that Attorney General Keith Ellison took decisive action in this case, arresting and charging all the officers involved in George Floyd's death and upgrading the charge against Derek Chauvin to felony second-degree murder," he said in a statement posted on Facebook.

Crump said he was grateful that Ellison took this step before Floyd's memorial services, the first of which is in Minneapolis on Thursday.

"This is a significant step forward on the road to justice, and we are gratified that this important action was brought before George Floyd's body was laid to rest," he said. "That is a source of peace for George's family in this painful time."

Crump said Ellison had been in touch with the Floyd family and told them about Wednesday's decision. The attorney general gave them his word that the investigation would continue and that his office would "upgrade the charges to first-degree murder if the evidence supports it," Crump added.

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota called the decision an "important step for justice." Klobuchar is among the running-mate contenders for Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota echoed the sentiment, calling it "overdue but necessary justice."

News of Floyd's death reverberated around the world

Floyd was arrested outside Cup Foods on May 25 after police officers arrived to investigate reports of someone using a counterfeit bill. Surveillance footage obtained by NBC News showed that he was sitting in a parked car with a man and a woman. Officers approached the car and led them out of it. Floyd was put in handcuffs and taken across the street to a police cruiser, out of the frame of the security camera.

Videos from different vantage points have shown Floyd being forcibly removed from the vehicle and struggling with three officers in the back seat of a squad car.

The most damning video was filmed by a witness and shows three officers pinning Floyd to the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back. Chauvin kept his knee pressed on Floyd's neck even as Floyd struggled to breathe, called out for his mother, and stopped moving altogether. Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital that evening.

Mahmoud Abumayyaleh, an owner of Cup Foods, told CNN on Wednesday that employees would no longer call 911 if they suspect a customer is using counterfeit bills. Calling the police "should never equate into a death sentence," Abumayyaleh said.

Floyd's death has sparked protests in multiple cities in the United States and across the globe. Thousands of people have stood in solidarity with Floyd's family, demanding justice and an end to racism and police brutality. The protests have in many cases turned violent, with looting, arson, vandalism, and police clashing with protesters; people have been shot, and some have died.

Demonstrators have joined Crump and the Floyd family in seeking charges against all the officers involved in Floyd's killing. "I can't breathe" has become a rallying cry.

"We are deeply grateful for the outpouring of support by Americans in cities across the country, and we urge them to raise their voices for change in peaceful ways," Crump said on Wednesday. "Our message to them is: Find constructive and positive ways to keep the focus and pressure on. Don't let up on your demand for change."

'He needed a breath. So we are demanding justice.'

Before the Star Tribune published its report on Wednesday, Crump told the Associated Press that Floyd "died because he was starving for air."

"He needed a breath. So we are demanding justice," Crump added. "We expect all of the police officers to be arrested before we have the memorial here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, tomorrow."

The attorney said that the three other officers squandered the opportunity to save Floyd's life as he pleaded for help. Crump said that Lane twice asked whether they should roll Floyd on his side but that Chauvin preferred to leave him on his stomach, even though his face was pressed onto the street.

"To us, that is intent," Crump said. "We are expecting these officers to be charged as accomplices."

The Floyd family hired a medical examiner to conduct an independent autopsy, which found this week that Floyd was killed by asphyxia due to compression of the neck and back.

"The evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxia as the cause of death and homicide as the manner of death," Dr. Allecia Wilson, the director of autopsy and forensic services at the University of Michigan, said on Monday.

Antonio Romanucci, another attorney for the Floyd family, said that two "physical mechanisms" led to Floyd's death: The weight of Chauvin's knee on his neck — as well as the knees of two other officers digging into his back — stopped not only "blood flow into his brain, but also airflow into his lungs."

Crump said the officers weren't afraid of consequences. Chauvin had remained on the force despite being involved in violent incidents and police shootings, and he had been the subject of 10 complaints filed to the city's Civilian Review Authority and the Office of Police Conduct Review.

On Tuesday, Minnesota launched a civil-rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department's practices, policies, and procedures going back 10 years, the AP reported. Rebecca Lucero, Minnesota's human-rights commissioner, said the goal was to root out systemic racism and discrimination, to provide the city short-term ways to create change on the way to long-term solutions, and to negotiate a consent decree that can be enforced through injunctions and fines.

"These officers knew they could act with impunity, given the Minneapolis Police Department's widespread and prolonged pattern and practice of violating people's constitutional rights," Crump said. "Therefore, we also demand permanent transparent police accountability at all levels and at all times."

The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

This article has been updated.

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