UPDATE: The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has ruled George Floyd’s death was a homicide. The office said Floyd’s heart and lungs stopped functioning “while being restrained” by law enforcement officers. Floyd died due to “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restrain, and neck compression,” according to the report. It also specified “other significant conditions,” including fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use as well as existing heart disease. A preliminary report released by the county last week stated there were “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.” However the new report didn’t include such language. The Floyd family had released a report just hours earlier on the autopsy they had commissioned. Those findings also said his death was a homicide. But the experts’ conclusions differed drastically from those of the county. The independent report concluded the 46-year-old black man was asphyxiated by white officer Derek Chauvin, who pinned him to the ground, pressing a knee into his neck for more than eight minutes while he was already restrained in handcuffs. George Floyd’s family is reporting that an independent autopsy shows the Floyd’s death was caused by asphyxiation from sustained pressure on his back and neck. Floyd was killed on Memorial Day Weekend after he produced a counterfeit $20 at a convenience store while trying to purchase cigarettes. An on duty clerk contacted the police about the incident and during his arrest, things turned for the worst.  Several videos show an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes while he was laid on his stomach in handcuffs screaming I can’t breathe.  From other angles of the video, two additional officers further restrained Floyd by kneeling on his back. The family ordered their own autopsy after the preliminary official autopsy ruled Floyd’s death little to do with the actions of the officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck and was caused by “being restrained, along with underlying health issues and potential intoxicants in his system.  ” The family’s autopsy, however, found that the officer’s actions did contribute to his death.

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Derek Chauvin, the police officer who help his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes, has since been charged with third-degree murder. The owner of the store where the incident occurred has since spoken about the incident stating that store video shows Floyd was not resisting arrest though they are unable to release it publicly and that the store stands with the family. https://youtu.be/FAFe6xUAwvw