All eyes turned to George Floyd's death, a black man, who became a rage on the social media after a video on how some police officers in the USA allegedly killed him by kneeling on his neck and staying there for a couple of minutes until Floyd gave up and died.
Floyd was an unarmed black man and he died after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. The video shows him saying, 'I can't breathe'.
He has been termed as a man who was making efforts to turn his life around after being released from prison. He moved to Minneapolis and was known as a 'gentle giant'.
Who was George Floyd
George Floyd was a 46-year-old Minneapolis resident who worked as a security guard at a Latin American restaurant called the Conga Latin Bistro in the city. He was at the restaurant for about five years and he had rented a home from the restaurant's owner.
Someone wrote that Floyd would get really upset if someone visiting the restaurant didn't stop to greet him. And it was simply because he honestly loved seeing everyone and watching everyone has fun.
According to Floyd's former classmate, 'gentle giant' was a nickname he had earned while at high school, and he was known to his loved ones as 'Big Floyd'. He is survived by a six-year-old daughter, Gianna, and she lives with her mum in Houston.
Floyd was a talented athlete who particularly excelled in football and basketball at school.
What led to his arrest in Minneapolis
It was on May 25 when George Floyd landed himself up in an incident with the Minneapolis Police Department. A grocery store had complained to the police that Floyd had used a forged cheque at the store. In a statement released by the Minneapolis Police Department, the officers were responding to a report of a 'forgery in progress'.
The police arrived and located him near his car and according to the police, he resisted the officers. They added that he was possibly under the influence of either drugs or alcohol.
A video that went viral about this incident shows Floyd groaning and saying repeatedly 'I can't breathe' to the police officer kneeling on his neck.
The other knee of the officer was on Floyd's back near his hands that were handcuffed.
Floyd also said, "Don't kill me!" and he became motionless with his eyes closed.
Floyd's family had received the video as a forward and it was only while watching the video that they realized that it was their cousin.
According to a preliminary autopsy report, Floyd's death happened due to the violence he was subjected to combined with 'underlying health conditions'.
The officer who has been charged with murder, in this case, is Officer Chauvin and an investigation has been launched by the FBI and authorities in Minnesota.
