What we know about the death of George Floyd: 4 Minneapolis police officers fired after 'horrifying' video hits social media

Government officials and Minnesota locals alike expressed outrage after a video surfaced showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of a black man and

ignoring his pleas for help until first responders put him, unresponsive, on a stretcher.

The man, identified at 46-year-old George Floyd, died at a local hospital, according to police. The case echoes the death of Eric Garner, another black man who died while a white officer restrained him, ignoring pleas of "I can't breathe." 

The four officers involved in the Monday incident were fired Tuesday, and the attorney for Floyd's family, Ben Crump, called for their arrests. The officers have yet to be officially identified, but attorney Tom Kelly told The Associated Press he is representing Derek Chauvin, the officer seen with his knee on Floyd's neck. Kelly declined further comment.

Here's what we know so far: 

What's in the video? 

A video taken by a bystander circulating on social media shows Chauvin with his knee pressed into Floyd's neck while the man repeatedly says he can't breathe. 

Floyd repeatedly pleads with Chauvin, at one point crying out for his mother and saying "everything hurts." 

Two officers are featured prominently in the video — Chauvin and an officer who stands between bystanders and the officer on top of Floyd. 

“He’s talking, he’s fine,” one officer says to a person off-camera. 

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“He ain’t fine,” the person replies before calling the officer a “bum” and saying he’s “enjoying what’s happening.” 

Chauvin keeps his knee pressed into Floyd’s neck and Floyd stops talking. About four minutes into the video, Floyd becomes unresponsive. Bystanders approach Chauvin and the officer draws something, causing one of the people off-camera to say, “He’s got mace.” 

What is a 'neck restraint'?

The Minneapolis Police Department's Policy & Procedure Manual defines a neck restraint as a "non-deadly force option." 

The handbook reads: "Defined as compressing one or both sides of a person’s neck with an arm or leg, without applying direct pressure to the trachea or airway (front of the neck). Only sworn employees who have received training from the MPD Training Unit are authorized to use neck restraints."

The book has two types of neck restraints: 

• Conscious Neck Restraint: The subject is placed in a neck restraint with intent to control, and not to render the subject unconscious, by only applying light to moderate pressure. 
• Unconscious Neck Restraint: The subject is placed in a neck restraint with the intention of rendering the person unconscious by applying adequate pressure. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, speaking to reporters Tuesday, was asked about the use of the knee on Floyd's neck during the arrest.

“We clearly have policies in place regarding placing someone under control,” Arradondo said, explaining that those policies “will be part of the full investigation we’ll do internally.”

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