George Floyd death: Timeline from arrest to asphyxiation

At 8pm, George Floyd was a customer at a corner store. By 8.31pm he was fighting for his life. These are the 31 minutes that tore the US apart.

It was a typical Monday evening in Minneapolis before police arrived to apprehend a man they were told was “awfully drunk” and “not in control of himself”.

What followed were 31 minutes that ended a black man’s life, saw four police officers fired — and one charged with murder — and pitted the public against police in cities across the US.

George Floyd, 46, was killed face down on the side of the road. His death sparked peaceful protests in some cities and riots and looting in others. Scenes of utter chaos have continued for almost a week.

Mr Floyd’s death will be scrutinised in depth at the trial for Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

This is how it happened, minute-by-minute, according to eyewitness accounts, police transcripts and CCTV footage.

Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is seen kneeling on the neck of George Floyd. Picture: Darnella Frazier/Facebook/AFP

7.57pm:

George Floyd, a bouncer originally from Houston, arrived at the Cup Foods store in Powderhorn, a neighbourhood south of downtown Minneapolis.

He was with friends when he entered the corner store to purchase cigarettes with what staff there later claimed was a counterfeit $20 note.

After returning to his car, a blue SUV, Floyd was confronted by two employees of Cup Foods. They wanted the cigarettes back but said Floyd was drunk and not happy to be accosted.

8.01pm:

A Cup Foods employee calls police. A transcript of the phone call includes the following conversation.

Operator: “How can I help you?”

Caller: “Ummm, someone comes into our store and give us fake bills and we realise it before he left the store and we ran back outside, they was sitting on their car. We tell them to give us their phone, put their (inaudible) thing back and everything and he was also drunk and everything and return to give us our cigarettes back and so he can, so he can go home but he doesn’t want to do that, and he’s sitting on his car cause he is awfully drunk and he’s not in control of himself.”

8.08pm:

Two officers arrive on the scene first. They are Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane. They approach the blue SUV, which has its front passenger side door open.

CCTV footage from a nearby store shows Lane pull his gun out and order Floyd to put his hands on the wheel of the car.

Within seconds, he puts the gun back in its holster. A minute later he pulls Floyd out of the driver’s seat.

Floyd is handcuffed and pressed against the wall of a restaurant when he is asked to identify himself by Kueng.

8.14pm:

Six minutes into the arrest, Floyd is walked back to the car by Lane and Kueng. He falls to the ground, telling officers he doesn’t want to enter because he is claustrophobic.

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Floyd died after three officers kept pressure on his neck, back and legs for more than eight minutes. Picture: Darnella Frazier/Facebook/AFP

8.17pm:

Three minutes later, a squad car carrying Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and fellow officer Tou Thao arrives on the scene.

Things almost immediately escalate when Chauvin, who has multiple previous complaints against his name, pulls Floyd from the back of the car and onto the pavement.

8.20pm:

Eyewitness footage filmed at 8.20pm shows Chauvin is applying pressure to Floyd’s neck with his knee.

Kueng is applying pressure to Floyd’s torso. Lane is applying pressure to Floyd’s legs.

Thao stands by, keeping bystanders at a distance as the situation becomes increasingly tense.

Floyd struggles to catch his breath and manages the words, “I can’t breathe, man”.

Almost immediately, the officers call for medical assistance, citing “bleeding from the mouth”.

8.21pm:

The call from officers on the scene is upgraded to a request for emergency medical assistance. Chauvin keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for another seven minutes. “Please, the knee in my neck. I can’t breathe,” Floyd begs.

According to a criminal complaint filed against Chauvin on Friday, he knelt on Floyd’s neck for a total of eight minutes and 46 seconds.

The New York Times reports that the complaint against Chauvin claims Lane asked him twice if Floyd should be rolled onto his side. He allegedly responded “no” both times.

Derek Chauvin has been charged with the murder of George Floyd. Picture: Hennepin County Jail/AFP

8.25pm:

Having told officers 16 times that he could not breathe, Floyd appears to lose consciousness. Bystanders urge Chauvin to “get off of him”. But instead, Chauvin pulls out his capsicum spray and gestures with it towards those watching on.

“Bro, he’s not *f***ing moving,” a bystander says.

8.27pm:

An ambulance arrives and paramedics almost immediately check Floyd’s pulse at the insistence of those watching on.

“Check his pulse. Check it right now,” one witness tells police in a video that was later shared on Facebook.

“The man ain’t breathing,” another says.

8.28pm:

Chauvin keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck for another whole minute and only takes it away when a paramedic tells him to. Floyd is rolled onto a stretcher, his lifeless body shoved quickly into the back of the ambulance and carried away.

9.25pm: Floyd is pronounced dead in hospital less than an hour after his body was driven away from the scene of the arrest.

But we know from a recorded phone call with paramedics that Floyd went into full cardiac arrest in as little as five minutes after he was loaded into the ambulance.

Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

The other three officers who attended Floyd’s arrest were also stood down.

Prosecutor Mike Freeman said more charges were possible, but authorities “felt it appropriate to focus on the most dangerous perpetrator”.