A Chronology of the Minneapolis Police Department (George Floyd Murder) Case
May 25, 2020
Minneapolis police respond to a 911 call concerning an African-American man allegedly trying to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. Police arrest the man, George Floyd. Some minutes later, he is dragged out of a police car by Officer Derek Chauvin, who puts his knee against Floyd’s neck, as he lies on the pavement for 7 minutes and 46 seconds despite repeated complaints by Floyd that he can’t breathe. Floyd is loaded in an ambulance, but pronounced dead at an emergency room at 9:25 p.m.
May 26, 2020
Video of the Floyd arrest goes viral. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announces that all four officers involved in the Floyd arrest have been terminated. Floyd’s family demands that murder charges be filed against the officers. In the evening, a crowd of protesters march toward the headquarters of the MPD’s 3rd Precinct, where Chauvin and the other involved officers worked. Police tear-gas the crowd.
May 27, 2020
On day two of the Minneapolis protests, thousands pour into the streets. The protests start peacefully, but descend into chaos after nightfall. Several buildings are set afire, while others are looted. Thick teargas drifts through neighborhood streets.
May 28, 2020
The worst night of the Minneapolis protests. Protesters overrun the 3rd Precinct headquarters of the MPD, officers abandon the building and it is set aflame. Among the many other buildings burned is a six-story building under construction about a block away that was to provide nearly 200 apartments of affordable housing. The escalating protests captured the attention of President Donald Trump. In a late-night tweets he calls the protesters “THUGS” and says, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts”—a tweet that was flagged by Twitter for “glorifying violence.” Minnesota Governor Tim Walz awaits authorization from Mayor Frey to send in activated National Guard units, which finally comes just after midnight.
May 29, 2020
Derek Chauvin is charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of George Floyd.
Protests continue in Minneapolis, but with less violence and damage than in previous nights. Meanwhile, protests (and some shootings and lootings) spread across the nation and the globe.
June 1, 2020
At the request of Governor Tim Walz, Attorney General Keith Ellison takes over the prosecution from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman.
June 3, 2020
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison upgrades the charge against Chauvin to second-degree murder and charges the other three officers at the scene with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter. The three former officers who were present but failed to intervene are booked into the Hennepin County jail.
June 4, 2020
J Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane, and Tou Thao mak their first court appearances. Hennepin County District Judge Paul Scoggin sets bail for each of the other three at $1 million without conditions, or $750,000 with conditions. Attorneys for rookie officers Kueng and Lane say their clients should not be blamed for the bad acts of senior officer Derek Chauvin.
A celebration—both somber and defiant—of Floyd’s life takes place in a chapel on the campus of North Central University in Minneapolis. Speaking at the service, Reverend Al Sharpton said black people have had to live with a knee on their necks for “401 years.” He says, “George Floyd’s story has been the story of black folks.”
June 5, 2020
Floyd is honored in a second memorial service in his birthplace of Raeford, North Carolina.
June 9, 2020
A memorial service is held for Floyd in Houston. A horse-drawn carriage takes George Floyd's body to a cemetery in the Houston suburb of Pearland, where Floyd is buried next to his mother.
June 12, 2020
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill is assigned the unenviable task of trying the MPD case. Cahill has tried a number of high-profile cases and has a reputation for being decisive and direct.
June 17, 2020
While Republicans and the Senate and Democrats in the House push their own proposed police reform legislation, Donald Trump signs an executive order, adopting ideas from the Senate plan that encourage better police practices and create a national database to track officers with a history of excessive use of force complaints.
June 29, 2020
Judge Peter Cahill warns prosecutors that because of prejudicial statements by local officials he might have to move the trial of the MPD officers out of Hennepin County. He sets a date for the trial, assuming all four officers are tried together (which seems unlikely), of March 8, 2021.
August 10, 2020
The full police bodycam video showing events relating to Floyd's arrest and death is released.
October 7, 2020
Derek Chauvin posts a $1 million bond and is released from prison.
January 12, 2021
Judge Cahill rules that Derek Chauvin will be tried separately in a trial beginning March 8. The three other officers will be tried together in a second trial set for August 23.
February 10, 2021
News reports reveal that Chauvin, three days after Floyd's death, had agreed to plead guilty to third-degree murder, but that the deal fell through when Attorney General William Barr refused to sign off on the part of the deal that would include the dropping of all federal civil rights charges.
February 23, 2021
News reports reveal that a federal grand jury had been convened the previous week to consider possible federal civil rights charges against Chauvin.
March 8, 2021
The trial of Derek Chauvin opens in Minneapolis. The first three weeks of the trial are set aside for jury selection.
March 12, 2021
The Minneapolis City Council announces approval of a $27 million settlement in a civil suit brought against the police department by members of the family of George Floyd.
March 22, 2021
The jury selection process is concluded. In addition to twelve jurors, two alternate jurors will attend daily sessions of the trial beginning March 29.
April 19, 2021
Closing arguments are presented in the George Floyd trial.
April 20, 2021
The jury finds Derek Chauvin guilty on all three charges: 2nd degree murder, 3rd degree murder, and manslaughter.
May 7, 2021
A federal grand jury indicts Chauvin and officers Kueng, Lane, and Thao for violating the constitutional rights of George Floyd.
June 25, 2021
Judge Cahill sentences Chauvin to a term of 22 1/2 years in prison.
November 15, 2021
Derek Chauvin pleads guilty to violating the federal constitutional rights of George Floyd and a 14-year-old boy by using excessive force. The incident involving the young teen took place in 2017.
February 24, 2022
After a month-long trial, a federal jury finds officers Kueng, Thao, and Lane violated the federal constitutional rights of George Floyd by failing to intervene to stop the excessive force being used against him.
November 20, 2023
The U.S. Supreme Court rejects Chauvin's petition for review of his conviction, ending his appeals.
November 24, 2023
Derek Chauvin is stabbed 22 times in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, but survives.