Associated Press
Friends share their memories of the 46-year-old who gained the nickname ‘gentle giant’
Before he died after being pinned for minutes beneath a Minneapolis police officer’s knee, George Floyd was suffering the same fate as millions of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic: out of work and looking for a new job.
Floyd moved to Minneapolis from his native Houston several years ago in hopes of finding work and starting a new life, said Christopher Harris, Floyd’s lifelong friend. But he lost his job as a bouncer at a restaurant when Minnesota’s governor issued a stay-at-home order.
On Monday night, an employee at a Minneapolis grocery store called police after Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $ 20 bill.
In widely circulated cellphone video of the subsequent arrest, Floyd, who was black, can be seen on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back while Officer Derek Chauvin presses him to the pavement with his knee on Floyd’s neck. The video shows Chauvin, who is white, holding Floyd down for minutes as Floyd complains he can’t breathe. The video ends with paramedics lifting a limp Floyd onto a stretcher and placing him in an ambulance.
Four officers were fired Tuesday; on Wednesday, Mayor Jacob Frey called for Chauvin to be criminally charged. Frey made no mention of the other three officers, who were also at the scene.
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Police say Floyd was resisting arrest, but Chauvin’s lawyer has declined to comment and the other officers have not been publicly identified.
Floyd, 46, grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, one of the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods, where he and Harris met in middle school. At 6 feet, 6 inches, Floyd emerged as a star tight end for Jack Yates High School and played in the 1992 state championship game in the Houston Astrodome. Yates lost to Temple, 38-20.
Donnell Cooper, one of Floyd’s former classmates, said he remembered watching Floyd score touchdowns. Floyd towered over everyone and earned the nickname “gentle giant.”
A chain portrait of George Floyd is part of the memorial for him, Wednesday, May 27, 2020, near the site of the arrest of Floyd who died in police custody Monday night in Minneapolis after video shared online by a bystander showed a white officer kneeling on his neck during his arrest as he pleaded that he couldn’t breathe.
Photo: AP Photo/Jim Mone
“Quiet personality but a beautiful spirit,” Cooper said. His death “definitely caught me by surprise. It’s just so sad, the world we’re living in now.”
Floyd was charged in 2007 with armed robbery in a home invasion in Houston and in 2009 was sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea deal, according to court documents.
Harris, Floyd’s childhood friend, said he and some of their mutual friends had moved to Minneapolis in search of jobs around 2014. Harris said he talked Floyd into moving there as well after he got out of prison.
“He was looking to start over fresh, a new beginning,” Harris said. “He was happy with the change he was making.”
Floyd landed a job working security at a Salvation Army store in downtown Minneapolis. He later started working two jobs, one driving trucks and another as a bouncer at Conga Latin Bistro, where he was known as “Big Floyd.”
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“Always cheerful,” Jovanni Tunstrom, the bistro’s owner, said. “He had a good attitude. He would dance badly to make people laugh. I tried to teach him how to dance because he loved Latin music, but I couldn’t because he was too tall for me. He always called me ‘Bossman.’ I said, ‘Floyd, don’t call me Bossman. I’m your friend. “
Harris said Floyd was laid off when Minnesota shut down restaurants as part of a stay-at-home order. He said he spoke with Floyd on Sunday night and gave him some information for contacting a temporary jobs agency.
“He was doing whatever it takes to maintain going forward with his life,” Harris said, adding he couldn’t believe that Floyd would resort to forgery. “I’ve never known him to do anything like that.” »MORE: New video shows beginning of police confrontation that led to George Floyds death Floyd leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter who still lives in Houston with her mother, Roxie Washington, the Houston Chronicle reported. Efforts to reach Washington on Wednesday were unsuccessful.
“The way he died was senseless,” Harris said. “He begged for his life. He pleaded for his life. When you try so hard to put faith in this system, a system that you know isn’t designed for you, when you constantly seek justice by lawful means and you can’t get it, you begin to take the law into your own hands . “
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Who was George Floyd? 6 things to know about man who died in Minneapolis police custody
Demonstrations in Minneapolis and other cities, such as Los Angeles and Memphis, Tennessee, continued early Thursday following the death of a man in Minneapolis police custody Monday.
George Floyd’s family says Minneapolis police officers should face murder charges
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George Floyd’s arrest was captured in a 10-minute viral video that showed a police officer holding his knee to Floyd’s neck. Floyd was later pronounced dead.
Minneapolis police officers fired after man dies in police custody.
Four officers involved in the incident were fired Tuesday. Authorities, including the FBI, are investigating the case.
Here’s what we know so far about Floyd:
1. The 46-year-old St. Louis Park resident was a security guard at Conga Latin Bistro in Minneapolis. According to the Star Tribune, Floyd had worked at the restaurant for five years and rented a home from the restaurant’s owner, Jovanni Thunstrom.
In a Facebook post Tuesday, Thunstrom described Floyd, who grew up in Houston, as not only his employee but also “a very good friend.”
“Watching this video makes tears come out,” Thunstrom wrote. “My body is full of emotions, of questions without answer.”
He also told the Star Tribune that Floyd “was family.”
“His co-workers and friends loved him,” Thunstrom said.
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2. One restaurant patron described Floyd, who was known as “Big Floyd,” as a “gentle giant.” Conga customer Jessi Zendejas said in a Facebook post that the security guard “loved his hugs from his regulars,” according to the Star Tribune.
“[He] would be mad if you didn’t stop to greet him because he honestly loved seeing everyone and watching everyone have fun,” Zendejas wrote on social media.
Thunstrom echoed the sentiment in an interview with KSTP.
“He wanted me to teach him how to Bachata dance, and I gave up because I couldn’t turn him because he was 6-foot-6,” Thunstrom told the news outlet, adding that Floyd “wasn’t the bad guy.”
“He had other problems, but we all have problems,” Thunstrom told KSTP. “He wasn’t the type that was aggressive, disrespectful. He was a very calm, nice guy. I want people to remember him that way.”
3. Floyd’s former partner, Christina Dawson, paid tribute to him in a Facebook post. “They really killed my baby!!” wrote Dawson, who told the Star Tribune that the pair had stayed friends after their split.
“I don’t even know what to do, y’all,” she continued. “This is not real!”
4. Minneapolis police said Floyd resisted arrest after officers responded to a forgery call Monday involving a suspect who “appeared to be under the influence.” In a statement, the department said officers arrived to find Floyd in his car and asked him to step out.
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“After he got out, he physically resisted officers,” the statement continued. “Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance, where he died a short time later. At no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident.”
Read the full statement here.
5. The officer captured on video holding his knee to Floyd’s neck has been identified as Derek Chauvin. Attorney Tom Kelly told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Chauvin is his client but did not release any additional details.
Earlier Tuesday, Chauvin and the three other officers involved in the incident were fired from the Police Department, officials said.
“This is the right call,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey tweeted.
State and federal authorities are now investigating the incident, and Minneapolis police are conducting their own internal investigation, the AP reported.
6. Floyd’s family said the police officers involved should face murder charges. “I would like for those officers to be charged with murder because that’s exactly what they did,” Floyd’s sister, Bridgett Floyd, said Wednesday during an appearance on NBC’s “Today” show. “They murdered my brother. He was crying for help.”
Attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Floyd’s family, said videos showed an officer kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes. He likened Floyd’s death to that of Eric Garner, who died July 17, 2014, after being placed in a chokehold by police in New York City. Video of that situation showed Garner pleading with police for air as officers ignored him.
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