On May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee against the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed 46-year-old Black man lying face-down on the pavement outside a convenience store, and held it there for nine minutes and 29 seconds. Floyd said he could not breathe more than 20 times, lost consciousness, went into cardiac arrest, and was pronounced dead that evening. The George Floyd knee restraint, recorded on a bystander’s cellphone, led to a murder conviction for Chauvin, federal civil rights convictions for the three other officers on scene, a $27 million civil settlement with Floyd’s family, and neck-restraint bans across dozens of states.
What Happened at 38th and Chicago
Officers responded to a 911 call from Cup Foods at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis reporting that a man had used a suspected counterfeit $20 bill. They located Floyd nearby and placed him under arrest. After a struggle near the squad car, Chauvin pulled Floyd to the ground and pinned him prone with a knee on his neck.1Famous-Trials.com. Chronology of the MPD Floyd Murder Case
Two other officers helped hold Floyd down. J. Alexander Kueng knelt on Floyd’s back and Thomas Lane held his legs. A fourth officer, Tou Thao, kept bystanders at a distance.2PBS NewsHour. Former Minneapolis Cops Thao and Kueng Say They Rejected Plea Deal in Floyd Killing
Prosecutors at trial broke the nine minutes and 29 seconds into three phases: four minutes and 45 seconds while Floyd pleaded for help, 53 seconds of seizure-like movements, and three minutes and 51 seconds after Floyd went completely unresponsive, during which Chauvin still did not remove his knee. The original criminal complaint cited a shorter figure, roughly eight minutes and 46 seconds, drawn from bystander video that began after the restraint was already underway. Prosecutors later revised the timeline upward after reviewing the officers’ body-worn camera footage.3CNN. George Floyd Timing 9:29
Darnella Frazier, then 17, recorded roughly ten minutes of the encounter on her cellphone and posted it that night. The footage became the jury’s primary visual record at trial.4NPR. Read This Powerful Statement From Darnella Frazier, Who Filmed George Floyd’s Murder
How Floyd Died
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression” and classified the manner as homicide. The autopsy noted severe heart disease, an enlarged heart, and fentanyl (11 ng/mL) and methamphetamine (19 ng/mL) in Floyd’s blood. It found no life-threatening injuries to the neck muscles, larynx, skull, or brain, only superficial cuts and bruises and a single rib fracture attributed to CPR.5Hennepin County Medical Examiner. George Floyd Autopsy Report, Case No. 20-3700
At trial, pulmonologist Dr. Martin Tobin told the jury that the combination of the prone position, handcuffs behind Floyd’s back, and the weight of officers on his neck and torso prevented adequate breathing and caused brain damage and cardiac arrest. Tobin said a healthy person would have died under the same conditions. Emergency physician Dr. William Smock described the cause as positional asphyxia and ruled out excited delirium.6Fox 9. Derek Chauvin Trial – Witness Testimony Day 9
The defense’s medical witness, former Maryland chief medical examiner Dr. David Fowler, classified the manner of death as “undetermined” and pointed to heart disease, drug use, and possible carbon monoxide exposure from a nearby exhaust pipe.7PBS NewsHour. Medical Witness for Defense in Chauvin Trial Says Floyd’s Manner of Death Undetermined The jury rejected that theory.
Chauvin’s Convictions and Sentences
Chauvin was charged in Minnesota state court with unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. On April 20, 2021, after roughly ten hours of deliberation, the jury convicted him on all three counts.8NPR. Jury Has Reached Verdict in Derek Chauvin’s Murder Trial
Judge Peter Cahill sentenced Chauvin to 270 months in state prison, or 22 and a half years, well above the 150-month presumptive guideline sentence. Cahill found four aggravating factors proven beyond a reasonable doubt: abuse of a position of trust and authority, particular cruelty, commission of the offense in the presence of children, and acting as part of a group. He relied on the first two to justify the enhanced sentence, pointing to the length of time Chauvin pinned a handcuffed, unresisting man, his dismissive responses to Floyd’s pleas, and his refusal to lift his knee even after Floyd became non-responsive.9Brookings Institution. The Derek Chauvin Sentencing Decision – Is It Fair
In December 2021, Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal charges of using excessive force under color of law against Floyd and against a 14-year-old boy in an earlier, unrelated incident. On July 7, 2022, Senior U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson sentenced him to 21 years in federal prison, to run concurrently with his state sentence.10The New York Times. Derek Chauvin Sentenced in Federal Civil Rights Case
What Happened to the Other Three Officers
Each of the officers alongside Chauvin was convicted in both federal and state court.
Tou Thao, who held back bystanders and did not intervene, was convicted by a federal jury in February 2022 of depriving Floyd of his rights and sentenced to 42 months in federal prison.11U.S. Department of Justice. Former Minneapolis Police Officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng Sentenced In state court, a judge found him guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in a stipulated-evidence trial and sentenced him to 57 months concurrent. Thao was released in November 2025 and remains on supervised probation through June 2027.12CBS News Minnesota. Tou Thao Scheduled Prison Release
J. Alexander Kueng, who knelt on Floyd’s back, was convicted federally alongside Thao and sentenced to 36 months.11U.S. Department of Justice. Former Minneapolis Police Officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng Sentenced He pleaded guilty in state court in October 2022 to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, with a jointly recommended 42-month sentence served concurrently.13Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. Kueng-Thao Plea He has since been released.12CBS News Minnesota. Tou Thao Scheduled Prison Release
Thomas Lane, who held Floyd’s legs and twice suggested turning him on his side, was convicted federally of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care and sentenced to 30 months.11U.S. Department of Justice. Former Minneapolis Police Officers Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng Sentenced He pleaded guilty in state court to aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter and received a three-year concurrent sentence. Lane was released from FCI Englewood in Colorado on August 20, 2024, and is serving a one-year term of supervised release.14ABC7 News. Thomas Lane Released From Prison
The $27 Million Civil Settlement
On March 12, 2021, weeks before Chauvin’s criminal trial began, the Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved a $27 million settlement with Floyd’s family, resolving their federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the city and the four officers. It was the largest pre-trial police misconduct settlement in Minnesota history.15BBC News. George Floyd – Minneapolis Agrees $27m Settlement With Family Of that total, $500,000 was set aside for community improvements in the neighborhood where Floyd was killed, with the balance going to the family.16NPR. Minneapolis Has Announced $27 Million Settlement With Family of George Floyd
Bans on Neck Restraints and Chokeholds
Before Floyd’s death, the Minneapolis Police Department authorized two forms of neck restraint as “non-deadly force options”: a conscious restraint using light pressure and an unconscious restraint compressing the carotid arteries. The department banned all neck restraints and chokeholds within weeks of Floyd’s killing.17News10 ABC. Was Officer’s Knee on Floyd’s Neck Authorized The department had previously settled a lawsuit over the 2010 death of David Smith, who was also pinned face-down, and had pledged then to train officers on positional asphyxia.
At least 30 states and Washington, D.C., enacted policing reform legislation after Floyd’s death.18Brennan Center for Justice. State Policing Reforms Since George Floyd’s Murder19Los Angeles Times. George Floyd Killing – States Limit, Ban Chokeholds
Comprehensive federal reform has not been enacted. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, first introduced in June 2020, passed the House but stalled in the Senate. It was most recently reintroduced in September 2025 by Congressman Glenn Ivey with 122 cosponsors. Its provisions include banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants in drug cases, creating a national police misconduct registry, changing the federal criminal intent standard for prosecuting officer misconduct from “willful” to “reckless,” and reforming qualified immunity.20Office of Congressman Glenn Ivey. Congressman Glenn Ivey Announces Re-Introduction of George Floyd Justice in Policing Act
Where the Case Stands Now
Chauvin has continued to fight his conviction. In November 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected without comment his appeal of the state murder conviction.21CNN. Derek Chauvin Supreme Court Appeal In November 2025, his attorney filed a 71-page petition for postconviction relief in Hennepin County alleging prosecutorial misconduct and claiming medical experts and police officials gave false testimony about Minneapolis Police Department training and Floyd’s cause of death. The petition cites sworn affidavits from 57 current and former officers who assert the knee-to-neck technique was trained and consistent with department policy. Hennepin County Judge Paul Scoggin has taken the petition under advisement, with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office given until January 4, 2026, to respond.22Star Tribune. Seeking New Trial for Death of George Floyd, Derek Chauvin Argues His Rights Were Destroyed
On November 24, 2023, Chauvin was stabbed 22 times with an improvised knife in the law library of the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. The attacker, fellow inmate John Turscak, told investigators he had planned the assault for about a month. Chauvin survived and was transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma in August 2024.23The New York Times. Derek Chauvin Stabbing – John Turscak Charges24CBS News Minnesota. Derek Chauvin Transferred to Oklahoma Federal Prison From Arizona
The broader reform picture in Minneapolis has shifted more than once. In June 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that the Minneapolis police had engaged in systematic racial discrimination, unjustified deadly force, and constitutional violations. On January 6, 2025, the Minneapolis City Council voted 12–0 to approve a 171-page federal consent decree placing the department under long-term court supervision with an independent monitor.25NPR. Minneapolis Police Training Force Policies In May 2025, the Trump administration moved to dismiss the decree, calling it “factually unjustified” given a separate state agreement between the city and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights. On May 27, 2025, a federal judge granted the motion. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey then signed an executive order on June 10, 2025, directing the city to implement the reforms from the dismissed federal decree on its own, to the extent they do not conflict with the state agreement.26City of Minneapolis. Consent Decree