Ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as the man begged for his life, will make his first court appearance on Monday afternoon.
Chauvin was arrested last month and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Last week, prosecutors added a second-degree murder charge.
READ ALSO: Policeman who killed George Floyd charged with murder, Manslaughter
The other three officers involved in Floyd’s death, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
The third and final memorial service for George Floyd will be held Monday in Houston, where he grew up and lived before moving to Minneapolis, where he died at the hands of a police officer.
Floyd’s death sparked two weeks of global protests that saw some of the largest crowds yet over the weekend. While the earlier days of unrest included buildings on fire and looting, protests have since remained mostly peaceful.
As thousands marched daily in cities including Minneapolis, Atlanta, and Los Angeles, mayors introduced nightly curfews to keep protesters off the streets most of which have now been lifted.
Nine Minneapolis City Council members made a commitment this week to start the process of defunding and “dismantling” the police department, Lisa Bender, the city council president said in a recent interview
She said she and other council members are hearing from their constituents that “right now, our police department is not making our community feel safe.”
“And so our commitment is that every single member of our community have that safety and security that they need,” she said, adding that council will work with the community over the next year to build that system.
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