The Minneapolis police officers responsible for the death of George Floyd just got some even worse news.
On Wednesday, the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office announced that they would upgrade the charges against Derek Chauvin, the white Minneapolis cop who knelt on George Floyd.
Chauvin will now be charged with second-degree murder. Previously, he had been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The three other officers at the scene, who were not initially charged, will now likely see the inside of a courtroom as well.
Officers Thomas Lane, J.A. Kueng, and Tou Thao will be charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder.
George Floyd, an unarmed black man who was suspected of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, died in police custody on Memorial Day–an incident caught in a chilling video that shocked the nation.
The video showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Repeatedly, Floyd tells the cops, “I cannot breathe.”
One day later, peaceful protests began in Minneapolis. A week later, those protests have spread across the nation–with some of them decaying into violence and looting.
More recently, the protests have reached across the world–with even European cities joining in huge marches in support of Black Lives Matter.
