George Floyd

**George Perry Floyd Jr.** (October 14, 1973 - May 25, 2020) was an African American man who was murdered by a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for almost 8 minutes. Many people were angry about his death, which led to many protests in order to stop violence and racism against black people.

## Early life and education 
Floyd was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina to George Perry Floyd and Larcenia "Cissy" Jones. He had four brothers and sisters. in the Third Ward, which is one of Houston's poorest neighborhoods. He was called Perry, which was his middle name.

He played basketball and American football throughout high school and college. He then transferred to Texas A&M University–Kingsville in 1995 before dropping out.

Some people called Floyd a "gentle giant." He was  tall and weighed .

## Later life 
Floyd returned to Houston in 1995 and became an automotive customizer and played club basketball. He performed as a rapper from 1994 to 1997 using his stage name Big Floyd in the hip hop group Screwed Up Click. He was on several mixtapes released by DJ Screw, the founder.

Floyd had many jobs. He got into trouble with the law several times. From 1997 to 2005, he went to prison 8 times. Some of the things he went to jail for were drug possession, theft and home invasion. He also helped his mother out after she had a stroke.

In 2014, Floyd moved to Minneapolis to find work. There, he was a bouncer, truck driver, and security guard.

In 2020, he lost his job as a security guard because the bar where he worked at shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April, he got COVID-19 but got better. His youngest daughter, Gianna, lives in Houston with his former partner. A GoFundMe campaign to help pay for Floyd's funeral costs and benefit his family made the site's record for the most individual donations.

## Death 
On May 25, 2020, a 44 year old white police officer named Derek Chauvin killed Floyd in Minneapolis by putting him in a chokehold during an arrest on suspicion of forgery when an employee from Cup Foods informed the Minneapolis Police Department that he had used a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes and that he was believed to be awfully drunk and not in control of himself. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd's neck, which meant that he could not breathe. Witnesses said that Floyd was reported to plead “I can't breathe” multiple times to the officers. Floyd could not move because he was handcuffed and lying face down. Two other officers named Thomas Lane and James Alexander Keung were on Floyd's back and legs and another officer named Tou Thao stopped others from helping Floyd.For the last three of those minutes, Floyd did not move and had no pulse

The second autopsy report done by the county said that Floyd's death was a homicide caused by cardiac arrest caused by him being restrained. This autopsy was done after people complained about the first one, which did not say homicide was the cause of his death.

His family had an autopsy done by another doctor, which said that Floyd died of asphyxia. However, it was done without samples from his body.

Some people nearby filmed the officers hurting Floyd and then put the videos on the Internet. Because of this, people started to protest. Protests began in Minneapolis the day after Floyd died. More protests would be held in all 50 US states and in 400 cities all around the world.

## Burial 
, June 9]]

On June 4, 2020, a memorial service for Floyd took place in Minneapolis with Al Sharpton delivering the eulogy.

Services were planned in North Carolina with a public viewing and private service on June 6 and in Houston on June 8 and 9.

Floyd is buried next to his mother in Pearland, Texas.

## Legacy 
A legacy is an impact that someone leaves behind when they die. George Floyd left behind a big legacy because he died due to police violence. In the United States, the police have a history of racism and not treating minority groups right. After Floyd died, there were big efforts to stop racism everywhere in the country, not just against Black people. This led to many murals and places honoring his legacy.

### Protests 
Many people were sad and angry about George Floyd's death. They think it is proof that racism is still a big problem in the United States. Some people came out to the streets to protests. Many protests were peaceful. Others were violent. George Floyd's death was often seen as a result of "the pandemic of racism" in America.

### Schools 
Some universities created scholarships in George Floyd's name. The CEO of Netflix and his wife made a $120 million donation to several historically black colleges and universities. These schools were created by and for African Americans as they were usually not allowed to attend colleges in the past.

### Law 
A bill proposed by US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (a Democrat from Texas), the George Floyd Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, was made to reduce police brutality and establish national policing standards.

### 8'46" 
The length of time that Chauvin was believed to have had his knee on Floyd's neck, eight minutes forty-six seconds, was used as a "moment of silence" to honor Floyd. However, Minnesota prosecutors later acknowledged that the actual time was 7 minutes and 46 seconds.

### Media 
George Floyd's death was the cover story for The Economist. It wrote that his legacy was "the rich promise of social change."

## Notes 
## References