Private Autopsy Says George Floyd Died of Asphyxia: Live Updates

A week after George Floyd’s death, crisis grips the nation.

A week after George Floyd died in police custody in Minneapolis, daytime demonstrations focused on racism and police brutality are increasingly giving way to violence and chaos by night, fueling tensions over the direction of a protest movement that has unfurled in sprawling fashion in dozens of cities across the United States.

Several people have been killed or wounded in shootings linked to the unrest, and looters have raided neighborhood shops and upscale commercial districts from Santa Monica, Calif., to Boston, as a sixth day of largely peaceful protests descended into lawlessness.

President Trump, who has been besieged by protests and fires outside the White House, took a hard line on Monday in a call with state governors. “You have to arrest people,” the president said, warning that governors would look like “jerks” if they did not crack down.

The unrest and the race to control it have come when the country was already grappling with a pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 people and an economic collapse that has put millions out of work. National Guard troops have been deployed to help overwhelmed police departments in about half the states, and dozens of mayors have imposed curfews in the hope of heading off violence.

George Floyd died of asphyxia and loss of blood flow, a private autopsy says.

George Floyd died not just because of the knee lodged at his neck by a Minneapolis Police officer, but also because of the other officers who helped hold him down, a private autopsy found.

Dr. Allecia M. Wilson of the University of Michigan and Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, were hired by Mr. Floyd’s family to help determine his cause of death.

“Not only was the knee on George’s neck a cause of his death, but so was the weight of the other two police officers on his back, who not only prevented blood flow into his brain but also air flow into his lungs,” said Antonio Romanucci, a lawyer for the family.

Benjamin Crump, the family’s lead lawyer, said emergency medical records showed Mr. Floyd was dead at the scene.

“For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse,” Mr. Crump said.

The knee to his back compressed his lungs and prevented them from being able to take air in and out, he said.

The findings differed substantially from what prosecutors have said about the conclusions of the Hennepin County medical examiner. The criminal complaint filed in the case said that the county autopsy “revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”

The full report from the medical examiner is still pending.

Prosecutors intimated in the criminal complaint that other factors were involved in Mr. Floyd’s death, including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. “The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death,” the criminal complaint said.

But Dr. Baden said: “The autopsy shows that Mr. Floyd had no underlying medical problem that caused or contributed to his death. This is confirmed by information provided to Dr. Wilson and myself by the family.”

Derek Chauvin, the fired police officer charged with murdering George Floyd, was transferred on Sunday to Minnesota’s most secure prison to await arraignment on June 8.

Chief Medaria Arradondo of the Minneapolis Police Department said in an interview with CNN on Sunday that the three other former officers who were present when Mr. Chauvin kneeled on Mr. Floyd’s neck — and who did not intervene — were complicit in his death. He said if any one of them had intervened, Mr. Floyd may not have died.

Trump tells governors they must ‘dominate’ protesters.

President Trump berated America’s governors on Monday over their response to the protests across the nation, calling the protesters “terrorists,” demanding “retribution,” and warning the governors that they will look like “jerks” if they don’t order protesters arrested and imprisoned.

Speaking on a private conference call, audio of which was obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Trump began the conversation with an extended, angry diatribe.

“You have to dominate,” he told governors on the call. “If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time — they’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”

The president continued: “You have to arrest people, and you have to try people, and they have to go jail for long periods of time.”

Mr. Trump, who has not addressed the nation since the unrest began, said he was putting Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, “in charge,” but did not immediately specify what that meant or if he would deploy the military to quell the violence in the nation’s cities.

Alluding to television footage of violence and looting, Mr. Trump called the people committing those acts “scum” and demanded of the governors: “Why aren’t you prosecuting them?” In blunt remarks rarely heard from an American president, he prodded the governors not to be “too careful.”

Taking over a call that was supposed to feature Vice President Mike Pence, the president said Minnesota had become “a laughingstock all over the world.”

Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who was on the call, said at a news conference afterward that he took exception to Mr. Trump’s remark. “I said no one is laughing here, we’re in pain,” Mr. Walz told reporters. “I also shared with the president that a posture of force on the ground is both unsustainable militarily — it’s also unsustainable socially, because it’s the antithesis of how we live.”

New York City, ravaged by the coronavirus and now protests, is establishing a curfew.

After thousands of demonstrators fanned across New York City for a fourth night, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the city would be put under a curfew.

The curfew, which Mr. Cuomo announced in a radio interview, will be in effect from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

“In New York City, I spoke with the mayor, there’s going to be a curfew in New York City that we think could be helpful,” Mr. Cuomo said on Monday. “More importantly, there is going to be an increase in the force.”

“There were about 4,000 officers on duty last night,” he said. “There’ll be double that tonight, about 8,000.”

Curfews were imposed in dozens of cities over the weekend, but the tactic was particularly striking for New York City’s eight million residents, who have been under severe lockdown orders because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed thousands of city residents. Just as the city was getting ready to cautiously reopen on June 8, the protests injected a new factor of unease, coming with not only police confrontations and widespread looting, but also fears that the virus was spreading in the crowds.

A day of largely peaceful protests on Sunday turned into jarring scenes of chaos across the city. Flames nearly two stories high leapt from trash cans and piles of street debris, sending acrid smoke into the air around Union Square. Stores in the trendy SoHo neighborhood were targeted for the second night in a row. And all night long, sirens screamed across the city, with multiple reports of lootings in Lower Manhattan.

The mayor also walked back earlier comments that appeared to criticize protesters who were rammed with police vehicles during a protest in Brooklyn, in an encounter captured on video that was shared widely over the weekend.

Mr. de Blasio, who was first elected to office on a platform of police reform, had drawn heavy criticism for his earlier remarks, in which he called for an investigation but also seemed to blame protesters.

After a fatal police-involved shooting in Louisville, the governor wants video released.

Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky called on Monday for the Louisville police to release video footage related to the death of a man who was killed shortly after midnight in a shooting by police officers and National Guard troops.

Officials say the troops and officers opened fire after being shot at. The governor has ordered an investigation.

Officials identified the victim as David McAtee, 53, owner of a local barbecue restaurant.

“My understanding is that there is significant camera footage, body camera and otherwise,” Mr. Beshear said at a news conference. “I believe that the people of Kentucky deserve to see it for themselves.” He added, “I hope it’s out long before nightfall.”

Mr. McAtee’s mother, Odessa Riley, and a group of protesters went on Monday to the scene of the shooting, where they were greeted by Mayor Greg Fischer, who offered his condolences.

“My son didn’t hurt nobody,” Ms. Riley said.

Like cities across the nation, Louisville has been convulsed by angry protests over police use of force, in particular the death of George Floyd a week ago in Minneapolis. Anger has also surged in Louisville over the killing of Breonna Taylor, who was shot to death in March by officers who burst into her home to execute a search warrant.

Mr. Beshear said the National Guard and officers of the Louisville Metro Police Department responded to a report of people gathered after curfew in the Louisville neighborhood known as California.

“Every account that we have seen right now, including some of the social media video, is that L.M.P.D. and the National Guard were fired upon,” the governor said. “We believe that that absolutely occurred first.”

Police officers and guard troops both returned fire, he added.

Officials have not suggested that Mr. McAtee had anything to do with that initial shooting, and have not said whose bullet or bullets hit him.

At the scene of George Floyd’s death, his brother condemned violence and encouraged people to vote for change.

He walked, slowly, up to the scene where a white police officer had knelt on his brother’s neck, a place now covered in flowers and chalk drawings. He knelt down himself, his knees buckling, and he let out a wail of anguish.

On Monday afternoon, Terrence Floyd became the first member of George Floyd’s family to visit the place where his brother lived his last conscious moments. He had said in a television interview earlier on Monday that he wanted to feel George’s spirit after days of feeling numb.

But Mr. Floyd, wearing a face mask with his brother’s face on it, also had a message. He understood people were upset. He doubted those protesting were half as upset as he was. Yet what he had seen in recent days troubled him.

“If I’m not over here wilding out, if I’m not over here blowing up stuff, if I’m not over here messing up my community, then what are y’all doing? What are y’all doing?” he said through a megaphone at the memorial on Monday. “Y’all are doing nothing. Because that’s not going to bring my brother back at all.”

He said the cycle of anguish, protest and destruction that has followed many police killings has not changed the country for the better. Instead, he said, people should inform themselves and vote.

“Educate yourself and know who you are voting for,” Mr. Floyd said. “That’s how we are going to hit them. Because there’s a lot of us.”

His visit to the memorial on Monday, which lasted for more than 30 minutes, was tense, at times, as the media swarmed him as he exited his vehicle, trampling some flowers and signs, despite calls to give Mr. Floyd space.

While there were times of quiet — when Mr. Floyd knelt, there was near silence — the visit was mostly filled with chants for peace, justice and remembrance of George Floyd’s name long after the demonstrations have ebbed.

Memorial services for Floyd are planned in Minnesota and Texas.

A series of memorial services for George Floyd are being planned in Minneapolis, where he died, and in Houston, where he spent much of his life, but the details have yet to be announced.

The governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, told reporters Monday that a memorial service for Mr. Floyd was scheduled for Thursday. After that service, Mr. Floyd’s body would be flown to Houston for a funeral a few days later, according to Fort Bend Memorial Planning Center, the funeral home handling the arrangements in both cities.

“At this time, we’re working with the family, just to kind of bring together everyone in unity as we prepare to celebrate his life,” said the owner, Bobby Swearington. He said he expected to announce specific dates, times and locations soon.

Over the weekend, the funeral home, which is in Rosharon, Texas, about 30 miles south of downtown Houston, posted a picture of Mr. Floyd on its Facebook page with the words, “Funeral arrangements are forthcoming.”

In Minnesota, Mr. Walz said the service on Thursday will be a “significant event,” for Minneapolis, the state and the country, “to watch that process of celebrating a life that was taken in front of us.”

The Houston police chief, Art Acevedo, who has marched with demonstrators and changed the Houston Police Department’s Twitter profile picture to an image of Mr. Floyd and the hashtag #JusticeForFloyd, said he offered to have his officers escort the body.

“We’ve reached out to the family,” Chief Acevedo said in an interview on Sunday. “Depending on their plans, if they need help with the movement of the body, we’ve offered to provide that security.”

Mr. Floyd was born in North Carolina but grew up in Houston, living in the Third Ward, one of the city’s historic African-American neighborhoods. He graduated from Jack Yates High School in 1993, after making a name for himself as a star athlete on both the football and basketball teams. He was involved in Christian ministry programs in the Third Ward, and moved to the Minneapolis area a few years ago.

At a black church, Joe Biden hears anguish and anger.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who had been staying at home because of the coronavirus epidemic, emerged on Monday to meet with parishioners and community leaders at a black church in Delaware.

The morning event at the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Wilmington was part listening session, part campaign speech and part forum for members of the city’s black community to express their collective anguish over the death of George Floyd.

For about an hour, Mr. Biden sat silently at the front of the church, a surgical mask covering his face, taking notes as speaker after speaker expressed versions of the same message: We support you, but you need to do more.

“Anger just doesn’t come out of nowhere,” Eugene Young, president of the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, said at the event, referring to the protests against police brutality that have gripped cities across the country. “This anger comes from the fact that you have people in our community that feel as though the knee has been on their back for a long time.”

Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, Democrat of Delaware, had to pause to collect herself while recalling an exchange the night before with a 23-year-old protester in Wilmington.

“He used the term ‘I’m standing my ground,’ which broke my heart, and then he said, ‘I’m willing to die,’” Ms. Rochester said, her voice rising. “And he said, ‘I have so much rage.’ And I said: ‘How old are you? What’s your name? How old are you?’ And I just tried to hold him, Covid or not!”

After hearing out the other speakers, Mr. Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, said he did not take black voters for granted and that he was putting together a detailed set of policy proposals to address their concerns.

He said he believed that the events of the past few months — including the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on black communities and, now, the outpouring of anger over the killing of Mr. Floyd — would force more Americans to confront institutional racism.

“Ordinary folks who don’t think of themselves as having a prejudiced bone in their body, don’t think of themselves as racist, have kind of had the mask pulled off,” Mr. Biden said.

Minneapolis, known as a progressive city, still has wide racial gaps.

Residents of Minneapolis take enormous pride in their city: its sparkling lakes, glassy downtown, beautifully kept green spaces and bicycle-friendliness that draw comparisons to Copenhagen.

And they tend to be especially proud of the city’s multiculturalism and progressive reputation, inspired by the city’s liberal icons like Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale and Paul Wellstone.

But there remains an extraordinary racial gap for Minnesotans when it comes to education outcomes and health care. Black families own homes at far lower rates than white families, among the largest such disparities in the country. And the city’s predominantly white police force, which has been accused of racist practices for decades, rarely disciplines officers with troubled records.

“Minneapolis has ridden this reputation of being progressive,” said Robert Lilligren, who in 2001 became the first Native American elected to the City Council. “That’s the vibe: Do something superficial and feel like you did something big. Create a civil rights commission, create a civilian review board for the police, but don’t give them the authority to change the policies and change the system.”

As demonstrations continue to erupt in Minneapolis, the city has been contending with its own history concerning race, and whether its identity as a liberal haven matches the reality for people of color, John Eligon and Julie Bosman report.

“The things that are great about it are great,” Betsy Hodges, a former mayor of Minneapolis, said of the city. “And it is also a city that has deep challenges, especially regarding race.”

The attorney general has summoned riot teams to Washington, as the capital braces for more protests.

Attorney General William P. Barr is stepping up the response from federal law enforcement to the turmoil in Washington, according to Justice Department officials, as the capital braced for more demonstrations.

Mr. Barr summoned hostage rescue teams to Washington around midnight on Sunday, and the department said it would increase the presence of federal law enforcement in the city again on Monday night. Mr. Barr also directed the Bureau of Prisons to send Special Operation Response teams, or riot teams, to the capital.

Smoke could be seen on Sunday evening rising from the Washington Monument as police fired tear gas and flash grenades to disperse protesters in the area. Windows of prominent buildings were smashed, and vandals overturned cars and set fires. A curfew from 11 p.m. until 6 a.m. did little to deter crowds from clashing violently with riot police officers in Lafayette Square, a small park beside the White House.

On Monday morning, workers tried to paint over graffiti and clean up after the tumultuous night. A section of Connecticut Avenue that would ordinarily be bustling with lawyers and lobbyists was barren on Monday except for construction crews sweeping up chunks of glass and surveying damage.

The White House was darkened on Sunday evening, adding to the impression of a president under siege. Secret Service agents rushed President Trump on Friday to a bunker beneath the White House that has been used during terrorist attacks.

Mr. Trump sought on Monday to blame the anti-fascist movement antifa for violence across the country, and urged his supporters to look forward to the November election. State officials have said there were signs that the violence was being instigated by white supremacists and others on the far right.

A new morning ritual: Cleaning up after a night of turbulence.

Days of protest and nights of unrest are giving way each dawn to a new ritual in America, as residents of the nation’s biggest cities awake to assess the damage and begin the sometimes heartbreaking and healing work of cleaning up.

Business owners in Minneapolis began a new week sifting through the remnants of their livelihoods, disintegrated in flames. Philadelphians turned out to sweep and scrub the previous night’s damage away. And in Boston, where commercial districts were peppered with shattered glass on Monday morning, a radio announcer’s voice echoed out like a collective sigh of relief and exhaustion: “It’s June 1st, and Boston made it through the night.”

“I talked to the police — they said, ‘We can’t even keep up with the calls,’” Mr. Penaranda said. “They couldn’t do much.”

Not far away, Bryan Ramey, a manager at a Diesel store, was sweeping up broken glass Monday morning. He said the looters had been selective and methodical in their choice of targets: A driver would remain in a vehicle outside while others brought out “armfuls of stuff.” They returned late at night and cleared the office of equipment, including a modem, a safe and a security system, in an act of looting that he said seemed unrelated to the protests.

“I’m all for protesting, even rioting when you feel you should fight the power,” he said. “But theft for theft’s sake is just taking advantage of a situation that’s already bad.”

Anita Harrison, who is from the predominantly black neighborhood of Roxbury, went to an upscale commercial strip on Newbury Street in Boston on Monday, offering to clean up. Standing in front of a shattered North Face store, she said she felt sad.

“This is not the answer,” she said. “It’s just people coming out looking for trouble. Like we’re not in enough trouble already.”

Violence broke out in Davenport, Iowa, where and officer was shot and two were killed by gunfire.

A weekend of large and peaceful demonstrations in Davenport, Iowa, turned violent overnight Sunday, when four people were shot, two of them fatally, by unknown assailants. The two who were injured include a police officer whose cruiser was shot at in an exchange of gunfire.

In an early morning news conference, Paul Sikorksi, the city’ police chief, said that police began getting numerous serious disturbance calls starting around 10 p.m. on Sunday.

He described a group of “some hundred plus vehicles” that was causing the disturbances around the city, and said the department had received dozens of reports of shots fired. When the police responded to one of the shooting injuries, in the parking lot of a jewelry store, they found more than 30 shell casings, the chief said.

The chief said that “numerous arrests” had been made related to the incidents but did not elaborate further. The wounded officer, who was shot around 3 a.m. when gunfire erupted between the police and the people in the vehicles, is in the hospital but “doing well,” the chief said.

Because of the violence, the entirety of Scott County is under a curfew beginning at 9 p.m. on Monday evening.

Who’s behind the violence breaking out at protests?

Political leaders including President Trump have accused various groups, saying that a radical agenda is transforming once peaceful protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

“We have reason to believe that bad actors continue to infiltrate the rightful protests of George Floyd’s murder, which is why we are extending the curfew by one day,” Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota tweeted on Sunday, after previously suggesting that white supremacists or people from outside the state were fomenting the unrest.

In New York City, a senior police official said anarchists had planned to cause mayhem in the city even before the protests started, using encrypted communication to raise bail money and recruit medics.

Still, few of those pointing the finger at extremists presented much detailed evidence to support the accusations, and some officials conceded the lack of solid information.

Keith Ellison, Minnesota’s attorney general and a former Democratic congressman from Minneapolis, told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that it would all have to be investigated.

“The truth is, nobody really knows,” he said.

8 minutes and 46 seconds: Here’s how George Floyd died in police custody.

The Times has reconstructed the death of George Floyd on May 25. Security footage, witness videos and official documents show how a series of actions by police officers turned fatal.