The FBI will lead an investigation into the death of an unarmed black man after a Minneapolis police officer pinned him down by putting his knee on the suspect’s neck.
A video from a bystander shows a white officer pressing the man’s face and neck onto the pavement near a police car on Monday evening. The man can be heard groaning and saying “I can’t breathe” in the video, CBS News reported.
According to CBS Minnesota, an attorney for the family of the deceased suspect identified him as George Floyd.
The officer involved has since been identified as 44-year-old Derek Chauvin.
Police said in a statement that officers were responding to a “forgery in progress.”
“Officers were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence,” the statement added.
Two officers reportedly arrived and found the suspect, who appeared to be in his 40s, inside a vehicle. He was ordered to step away from his car.
“After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance,” according to the police statement.
The man was taken to a hospital where he died a short while later, the statement said, adding that there were no weapons used in the incident and that police body cameras were activated.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced Tuesday at a press conference that the FBI would lead the investigation over this incident, examining the case for potential civil rights violations, CBS reported.
Arradondo also said two of the officers have been “relieved of duty status” but would still receive pay.
Video of the incident captured and uploaded to social media by Darnella Frazier shows the man remained pinned to the ground for more seven minutes and appeared to lose consciousness about five minutes into the video.
Several bystanders were also present and can be heard talking throughout the video.
Other onlookers can be heard commenting that the suspect was struggling to breathe, with one woman commenting on the man’s bleeding nose.
Shortly after, the woman said the suspect had become unresponsive and urged officers to check his pulse. An ambulance then arrives to shuttle him away from the scene.
“You just really killed that man, bro,” one bystander can be heard saying to the officer.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey (D) said the man’s death was “simply awful” and “wrong at every level” at the Tuesday press conference.
“What we saw was horrible, completely and utterly messed up,” Frey said. “This man’s life matters, he matters. He was someone’s son, someone’s family member, someone’s friend. He was a human being and his life mattered.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), a contender to be former Vice President Joe Biden’s running mate in the fall, posted a statement on Twitter regarding the fatal incident, saying “this tragic loss of life calls for immediate action.”
“We heard his repeated calls for help. We heard him say over and over again that he could not breathe. And now we have seen yet another horrifying and gutwrenching instance of an African American man dying.
“Justice must be served for this man and his family, justice must be served for our community, and justice must be served for our country.”
Updated at 1:32 p.m.