Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey, has called for the arrest of the police officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck, an incident that was captured on video, and resulted in his death.
Floyd, an African-American man, was arrested by Minneapolis police on Monday, May 25th, for reportedly using a counterfeit $20 note in a store. While being detained, officer Derek Chauvin - a 19 year veteran of the force - knelt on his neck for a number of minutes, which resulted in Floyd losing consciousness, and later passing away.
All four police officials involved, including Chauvin, have been fired from their positions - something Frey deemed to be the "right call" - however, the Mayor is now calling for those involved in Floyd's death to be charged with murder.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday, Frey asserted;
"Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail? If you had done it or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now, and I cannot come up with a good answer to that question.
I’m calling on the Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to act on the evidence before him. I’m calling on him to charge the arresting officer in this case. We cannot turn a blind eye. It is on us as leaders to see this as it is and call it what it is."
Floyd's sister, Bridgett, told NBC's Today on Wednesday that her family wants all four officers to be arrested and charged with murder.
"Me and my family are taking this very, very hard. It’s very heartbreaking, it’s very disturbing," she said. "I would like for these officers to be charged with murder, because that’s exactly what they did. They murdered my brother. He was crying for help."
The death of Floyd prompted huge protests in Minneapolis on Tuesday night. However, these peaceful demonstrations did not transpire without incident, as police in riot gear proceeded to fire teargas and rubber bullets into the crowd, per The Guardian.
On Wednesday, protestors continued to gather at the scene of the altercation.
Yesterday evening, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to denounce Floyd's death as "very sad and tragic".
"At my request, the FBI and the Department of Justice are already well into an investigation as to the very sad and tragic death in Minnesota of George Floyd,” he wrote. "I have asked for this investigation to be expedited and greatly appreciate all of the work done by local law enforcement."