George Floyd

George Perry Floyd Jr. † (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020 [aged 46]) simply known as George Floyd was an African-American Musician, Rapper and YouTuber who was murdered by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill, on May 25, 2020. Derek Chauvin, one of the four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds which led to asphyxia. After his murder, protests against police brutality, especially towards black people, quickly spread across the United States and globally. His dying words, "I can't breathe," became a rallying slogan.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd
Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Floyd grew up in Houston, Texas, playing American football and basketball throughout high school and college. Between 1997 and 2005, he was convicted of eight crimes. He served four years in prison after accepting a plea bargain for a 2007 aggravated robbery in a home invasion. After he was paroled in 2013, he served as a mentor in his religious community and posted anti-violence videos to social media. In 2014, he moved to the Minneapolis area, residing in the nearby suburb of St. Louis Park, and worked as a truck driver and bouncer. In 2020, he lost his job as a truck driver, and then his security job during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The City of Minneapolis settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Floyd's family for $27 million. Chauvin was convicted on two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter on April 20, 2021, and on June 25, 2021, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. The other three officers at the scene were also later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights.
==Early life and education==
Floyd was born on October 14, 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to George Perry and Larcenia "Cissy" Jones Floyd. He had four siblings.
When he was two, after Floyd's parents separated, his mother moved with the children to the Cuney Homes public housing, known as the Bricks, in Houston's Third Ward, a historically African-American neighborhood. Floyd was called Perry as a child, but also Big Floyd; being over six feet (183 cm) tall in middle school, he saw sports as a vehicle for improving his life.
Floyd attended Ryan Middle School, and graduated from Yates High School in 1993. While at Yates, he was co-captain of the basketball team playing as a power forward. He was also on the football team as a tight end, and in 1992, his team went to the Texas state championships.
The first of his siblings to go to college, Floyd attended South Florida Community College for two years on a football scholarship, and also played on the basketball team. He transferred to Texas A&M University–Kingsville in 1995, where he also played basketball before dropping out. Floyd became a friend of future NBA player Stephen Jackson, who was referred to as his "twin" because of their strong resemblance to one another, after being introduced to one another in the mid-1990s. At his tallest he was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm) and by the time of his autopsy he was 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall and weighed 223 pounds (101 kg).
==Controversy==
===Scamming===
On May 25, 2020, a store clerk accused him of scamming the shopkeeper for a $20 note, this resulted for Floyd to be arrested and choked to his death.https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/28/facebook-posts/post-exaggerates-george-floyds-criminal-history/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd
===Theft===
George Floyd had faced jails and arrest, he has been arrested 23 times due to robberies and stealing accusations. Then, about three years later (on Aug. 29, 2001), Floyd was sentenced to 15 days in jail for "failure to identify to a police officer," court documents say. In other words, he allegedly didn't give his name, address or birth date to a cop who was arresting him for reasons that are unknown (the court records don't say why police were questioning him in the first place) and requesting that personal information.https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/28/facebook-posts/post-exaggerates-george-floyds-criminal-history/https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/06/12/george-floyd-criminal-record/
===Drug abuse===
George Floyd both did and was accused of using drugs on multiple occasions. He was arrested due to this and has faced jail time before, becuase of this issue.https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/toxicologist-testifies-that-drugs-and-heart-disease-did-not-kill-george-floyd Floyd has also admitted to using drugs in his apology video on his music channel.
==Death==
Memorial to Floyd two days after his murder on May 25, 2020, police were called by a Cup Foods grocery store employee who suspected that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was sitting in a car with two other passengers. Police officers forcibly removed Floyd from the car and handcuffed him.
Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, who pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds while Floyd was handcuffed face down in the street. As seen in a witness's cellphone video, two other officers further restrained Floyd and a fourth prevented onlookers from intervening as Floyd repeatedly pleaded that he could not breathe. During the final two minutes Floyd was motionless and had no pulse, but Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck and back even as emergency medical technicians arrived to treat Floyd.
The medical examiner found that Floyd's heart stopped while he was being restrained and that his death was a homicide, caused by "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression", though fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use may have increased the likelihood of death. A second autopsy, commissioned by Floyd's family, also found his death to be a homicide, specifically citing asphyxia due to neck and back compression; it ruled out that any underlying medical problems had contributed to Floyd's death, and said that Floyd being able to speak while under Chauvin's knee does not mean he could breathe.
On March 12, 2021, the Minneapolis city council approved a settlement of $27 million to the Floyd family following a wrongful death lawsuit.
Chauvin was fired and charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin was found guilty on all three murder and manslaughter charges on April 20, 2021. On May 12, 2021, Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill allowed for the prosecution to seek a greater prison sentence for Chauvin after finding that he treated Floyd "with particular cruelty". On June 25, Judge Cahill sentenced Chauvin to twenty-two and a half years in prison.
== Discography ==
Discography of George Floyd
Song 	Release Date 	Album 	Platform
Smoking' Chokin' feat. Cooliohttps://soundcloud.com/brendan-lamborghini-bus/george-floyd-smoking-chokin-feat-coolio 	March 14th 2014 	Teenage Radio 	SoundCloud
Teenage Radiohttps://soundcloud.com/brendan-lamborghini-bus/teenage-radiohttps://www.discogs.com/release/1872444-Floyd-George-Teenage-Radio 	February 6th 2014	Teenage Radio 	SoundCloud
Orange N Black feat. Gucci Mane (Prod. by DJ Khaled)https://soundcloud.com/brendan-lamborghini-bus/orange-n-black-feat-gucci-mane-prod-dj-khaled	May 11th 2013 	Monkey Wars 	SoundCloud
Good Beathttps://soundcloud.com/susan-burgess-477593035/good-beat 	July 12th 1998 	George Floyd Biggest Hits	SoundCloud
Chicago Drip 1998https://soundcloud.com/brendan-lamborghini-bus/chicago-drip-1998-prod-by-larry-oover 	November 4th 1998	Chicago Drip 	SoundCloud
Houston O Blockhttps://soundcloud.com/brendan-lamborghini-bus/houston-o-block 	April 7th 2001 	Teenage Radio 	SoundCloud
== Subscriber milestones ==
Note: The following dates are according to Social Blade. Dates may vary by one or two days due to differences in time zones.
* 1 million subscribers: March 7, 2017
== Trivia ==
* It is common misconception to believe that his music went viral after his death, however this was debunked as most of his songs have reached millions of views before his death.
** This caused Floyd to form his own fanbase which would later become a bigger part of the BLM part.
* Floyd was a former member of a hip-hop group Presidential Playas.https://www.okayplayer.com/culture/george-floyd-dj-screw.html
* At his tallest he was 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) and by the time of his autopsy he was 6 feet 3 inches (191 cm) tall and weighed 223 pounds.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd#:~:text=At%20his%20tallest%20he%20was,223%20pounds%20(101%20kg).
* He has made a cameo in a few music videos such as Scarface's "F*ck you too"https://www.npr.org/2020/06/10/874334270/houstons-hip-hop-scene-remembers-george-floydhttps://youtu.be/gJCB0C4KexQ?t=111https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djE-BLrdDDc
==References==
Category:Deceased YouTubers
Category:Music YouTubers
Category:Art YouTubers
Category:One million subscribers
Category:Verified YouTubers
Category:American YouTubers
Category:Users who joined in 2009
Category:Terminated YouTubers