Black Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison Takes Over George Floyd Murder Prosecution

Keith Ellison has been appointed to review the current charges and determine if the other three officers will also be charged.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Sunday (May 31) that the state’s attorney general, Keith Ellison, will take the lead in any prosecutions related to the death of George Floyd.

The news comes after an intense weekend of protests in 75 cities around the country. The ongoing protests following the police killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor took a chaotic and dangerous turn, as police were recorded tear-gassing protesters in Minneapolis, driving vehicles through crowds in Brooklyn, beating men and women with batons in Los Angeles and tasering a Black couple in Atlanta trying to make it to their home.

Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who was recorded in a cellphone video with his knee in the neck of George Floyd while attempting to apprehend him, causing his death, was arrested today (May 29) and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter, the Hennepin County, Minnesota attorney Mike Freeman announced.

He was reportedly taken into custody by the Minneapolis Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Walz’s decision to have Ellison take the lead comes after requests from activists, some City Council members and a civil rights group.

Ellison confirmed the news via Twitter, writing, “It with a large degree of humility and a great seriousness, I accept for my office the responsibility for leadership on this critical case involving the killing of George Floyd.”

He continued, “We are going to bring to bear all the resources necessary to achieve justice in this case.”

Source: Minneapolis Star/ BET