An official autopsy released Monday ruled that George Floyd, the African-American man whose death at police hands set off unrest across the United States, died in a homicide involving “neck compression”.
George, 46, died of “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,” and the manner of death was “homicide,” the Hennepin County Medical Examiner in Minneapolis said in a statement.
Floyd’s other significant health conditions were listed as “arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; recent methamphetamine use.”
The statement added that the “manner of death is not a legal determination of culpability or intent.”
It emphasized that under Minnesota state law “the Medical Examiner is a neutral and independent office and is separate and distinct from any prosecutorial authority or law enforcement agency.”
The shocking videotaped death on May 25 of an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at the hands of police in Minneapolis ignited the nationwide wave of outrage over law enforcement’s repeated use of lethal force against unarmed African Americans.
Floyd died in Minneapolis after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, held him down with a knee on his neck though he repeatedly pleaded, “I can’t breathe”, and “please, I can’t breathe”.
All four police officers involved in the incident have been fired, and Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
Protests turned violent across the United States with agitated people throwing bricks and bottles and shouting curses at President Donald Trump.
Amid the chaos and continuing protests, curfew was declared in as many as 40 cities and Washington DC across the United States on Sunday.
As the Trump administration branded instigators of five nights of rioting as domestic terrorists, there were more confrontations between protesters and police and fresh outbreaks of looting.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has said that Floyd’s memory must not be “drowned out by an angry mob” and added that he has “strongly recommended” to every Governor to deploy the national guard in sufficient numbers to dominate the streets until the violence has been quelled.
Calling the violence in Washington D.C. on Sunday night “a total disgrace”, Trump said he was “dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement offices to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism assaults and the wanton destruction of property”.
(With agency inputs)