Names of the officers have not been publicly released by the department, but sources confirmed to the Star Tribune the cop pinning Floyd to the pavement is named Derek Chauvin. Chauvin and another officer — widely identified as Tou Thao, though again not yet confirmed by the MPD — were said to be responding to an alleged forgery at a business in south Minneapolis prior to their detainment of Floyd.
Floyd was in handcuffs and not resisting at the beginning of a 10-minute video clip a bystander posted to Facebook Monday evening. Floyd repeatedly begged Chauvin to “please” release the pressure on his back and neck, saying, “I can’t breathe,” and “They’re gonna kill me.”
Over the protest of bystanders, Chauvin continued to keep his knees on top of Floyd for several minutes after he stopped moving, while Thao told witnesses to stand back. Continue reading.