Good morning. We’re continuing today with a dual-purpose newsletter: updates on George Floyd’s killing and the latest on the coronavirus. First, a brief forecast. A calm spring day. Skies clear as the day goes on. Twin Cities highs in the upper 70s with 10 to 15 mph winds. Temps dip into the upper 40s at night. Statewide highs from the mid-60s to lower 70s in the northwest to upper 70s in the southeast. Nighttime lows in the 40s. More on Updraft | Forecast Demonstrations over George Floyd’s death dissolved into looting and burning. Protesters began gathering in the early afternoon near the city's 3rd Precinct station. Police deployed chemical irritant gas early in the evening as some protesters threw rocks at the building and tensions escalated. Police Chief Medaria Arradondo told MPR News that the demonstrations in Floyd’s name had been "hijacked" by some protesters and looters engaged in "criminal conduct." In south Minneapolis streams of people pulled goods from Target, Cub Foods and other local businesses. Fires, some of which are still burning, engulfed the Lake Street area in smoke. Police confirmed they’re investigating a death that occurred Wednesday night, with one person taken into custody.
“They murdered my brother. They killed him.” George Floyd’s sister, Bridgett Floyd, made a TV appearance yesterday, saying that firing the officers involved with her brother’s killing is just the first step. “That’s definitely not enough justice for me or my family. I feel like those guys need to be put in jail.” “If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey took the unusual step of calling on prosecutors to charge the cop who knelt on Floyd’s neck before he passed out and died. “We watched for five whole, excruciating minutes as a white officer firmly pressed his knee into the neck of an unarmed, handcuffed black man,” Frey said of the video showing some of Floyd’s final breaths and pleas for help. “I saw no threat. I saw nothing that would signal that this kind of force was necessary.”
“We will make sure that this is not an investigation that lags.” That’s from John Harrington, the state’s public safety commissioner, who vowed a prompt, complete investigation of Floyd’s death by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, which he oversees. BCA investigators will eventually present their information to the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office to consider charges.
Minneapolis officials have announced the names of the four officers involved. They are Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng. The police department didn’t say which officer was the one kneeling on Floyd’s neck, but news outlets have reported it was Chauvin.
Two of the officers involved have a violent past. Chauvin was involved in at least two fatal shootings. In both cases, which happened in 2006 and 2008, the use of force was deemed justified. His personnel file has a dozen complaints in his personnel file, but they are not public because he didn't face discipline. In 2017, Thao and another officer faced an excessive force lawsuit that was later settled for $25,000. Thao has five complaints against him. One remains open. George Floyd's death has, once again, led to calls for police officers to be charged in a civilian's killing. Laws around police use of deadly force are complicated. What question do you have about them? Share with us here. And in COVID-19 news, Minnesota has surpassed 900 deaths. Gov. Tim Walz said the “peak is still a ways off — but there is a degree of uncertainty that comes in that prediction,” Walz said. “And how we're acting ... that will have an impact on it." Officials say it could come in June or July. Here are the latest coronavirus statistics: 22,464 confirmed cases via 216,532 tests932 deaths2,796 cases requiring hospitalization598 people remain hospitalized; 260 in intensive care16,314 patients no longer needing isolation — Cody Nelson, MPR News | @codyleenelson | 