On May 25, 2020, four police officers are dispatched after store staff in Minneapolis alerted that they suspect a man wants to pay with counterfeit bills. According to the staff, the man is sitting in a car outside the store. When the police arrive, they handcuff the man identified as George Floyd.
During the intervention, police officer Derek Chauvin kneed the 46-year-old man in the neck, assisted by J. Alexander Kueng, among others, who kneed him in the back to hold him down. Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Kueng admits guilt
In 2021, police officer Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years in prison for manslaughter. J. Alexander Kueng pleaded guilty to accessory to homicide back in October 2022. In exchange, the accessory to murder charge against him was dropped. He is already serving a federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights. His state and federal sentences will be served concurrently.
The high-profile death was videotaped and immediately spread globally. The case led to worldwide protests against police brutality and excessive violence against minorities. It was also a part of the Black Lives Matter movement spreading like wildfire around the world.