The Three Cops Who Watched George Floyd Die Have Been Charged

Brian Branch Price/Zuma

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

The three former Minneapolis police officers who stood by as Derek Chauvin held his knee to George Floyd’s neck have been charged with aiding and abetting murder, and the charge against Chauvin has been elevated to second-degree murder, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Wednesday.

“We’re here today because George Floyd is not here,” Ellison, who became the lead prosecutor in Chauvin’s murder case two days ago, said. “He should be alive, but he’s not.”

All four officers present at the time of Floyd’s death were fired from their positions on May 26. Five days ago, Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years and entails “perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life,” according to Minnesota law. Minnesota is one of only three states to divide murder into three separate charges.

Second-degree murder, Ellison explained, does not require the intention to cause the death of a human being, but encompasses an unintentional killing that occurs while knowingly committing another felony. “We would contend that George Floyd was assaulted, and so that would be the underlying felony,” he said. “I believe the evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge of second-degree murder.”

“I strongly believe that these developments are in the interest of justice for Mr. Floyd, his family, his community, and our state,” he said.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate