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    Thursday, April 25, 2024

    Dozens rally before ex-officer goes on trial in Floyd's death

    George Floyd Square is shown on Feb. 8, 2021, in Minneapolis. Ten months after police officers brushed off George Floyd's moans for help on the street outside a south Minneapolis grocery, the square remains a makeshift memorial for Floyd who died at the hand of police making an arrest. The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will begin with jury selection on March 8. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

    ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Dozens of people gathered in front of the Minnesota governor’s mansion on Saturday to demand accountability for police officers, days before a former Minneapolis officer is scheduled to go on trial in the death of George Floyd.

    Many of the roughly 150 people who demonstrated in Minnesota were family members of others who died during police encounters. Similar protests were being organized in cities around the country in advance of the trial of Derek Chauvin.

    Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 after Chauvin, who is white, pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while Floyd was held face-down on the ground in handcuffs, saying he couldn’t breathe. Body-camera video time stamps provided by prosecutors show Chauvin held his position for about nine minutes, even after Floyd stopped moving. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

    Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter and jury selection in his trial begins Monday.

    Saturday's protest in Minnesota was organized by Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, a coalition of families who lost loved ones in police confrontations. The Star Tribune reports that speakers said that in light of Floyd's death, they want other fatal police encounters reopened and examined.

    In Massachusetts, supporters of families who lost loved ones during police encounters also gathered in Boston's South End. Protest organizer Brock Satter told WBZ radio: “We're demanding convictions. They should go to jail for their crimes.”

    A trial countdown sign marks the days at George Floyd Square, March 4, 2021, in Minneapolis. Ten months after police officers brushed off George Floyd's moans for help on the street outside a south Minneapolis grocery, the square remains a makeshift memorial for Floyd who died at the hand of police making an arrest. The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will begin with jury selection on March 8. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
    This file photo provided by the Ramsey County, Minn., Sheriff's Office shows former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was arrested Friday, May 29, 2020, in the Memorial Day death of George Floyd. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter and jury selection in his trial begins Monday, March 8, 2021. (Ramsey County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)
    In this Monday, May 25, 2020, file frame from video provided by Darnella Frazier, then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin kneels on the neck of George Floyd, a handcuffed man who was pleading that he could not breathe. As the trial approaches for Chauvin, who is charged with murder in Floyd's death, prosecutors are putting the time Chauvin's knee was on Floyd's neck at about nine minutes. The time has fluctuated before. (Darnella Frazier via AP, File)

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