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A chain portrait of George Floyd sits Wednesday as part of the memorial for him near the site of the arrest of Mr. Floyd, who died in police custody Monday night in Minneapolis after video shared online by a bystander showed a white officer kneeling on his neck during his arrest as he pleaded that he couldn't breathe.
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Victim in police encounter had started new life in Minnesota

Jim Mone/Associated Press

Victim in police encounter had started new life in Minnesota

Before he died after being pinned for minutes beneath a Minneapolis police officer’s knee, George Floyd was suffering the same fate as millions of Americans during the coronavirus pandemic: out of work and looking for a new job.

Floyd moved to Minneapolis from his native Houston several years ago in hopes of finding work and starting a new life, said Christopher Harris, Floyd’s lifelong friend. But he lost his job as a bouncer at a restaurant when Minnesota’s governor issued a stay-at-home order.

On Monday night, an employee at a Minneapolis grocery store called police after Floyd allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

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In widely circulated cellphone video of the subsequent arrest, Floyd, who was black, can be seen on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back while Officer Derek Chauvin presses him to the pavement with his knee on Floyd’s neck. The video shows Mr. Chauvin, who is white, holding Floyd down for minutes as Floyd complains he can’t breathe. The video ends with paramedics lifting a limp Floyd onto a stretcher and placing him in an ambulance.

Protesters use shopping carts as a barricade as they confront police near the 3rd Police Precinct on May 27, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The station has become the site of an ongoing protest after the police killing of George Floyd. Four Minneapolis police officers have been fired after a video taken by a bystander was posted on social media showing Floyd's neck being pinned to the ground by an officer as he repeatedly said,
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Four officers were fired Tuesday; on Wednesday, Mayor Jacob Frey called for Mr. Chauvin to be criminally charged. Mr. Frey made no mention of the other three officers, who were also at the scene.

Police say Floyd was resisting arrest, but Mr. Chauvin’s lawyer has declined to comment and the other officers have not been publicly identified.

Speaking to reporters at Cape Canaveral, Fla., President Donald Trump called the death in Minneapolis “a very, very sad event” and said his administration was going to “look at it.” Later, he tweeted that he had asked for the federal investigation be expedited.

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Democrat Joe Biden said Floyd’s death was “part of an ingrained, systemic cycle of injustice that still exists in this country” and “cuts at the very heart of our sacred belief that all Americans are equal in rights.”

It also “sends a very clear message to the black community and black lives that are under threat every single day,” Mr. Biden added, saying he was glad the mayor and the police department fired the officers, “but I don’t think that’s enough.”

Floyd, 46, grew up in Houston’s Third Ward, one of the city’s predominantly black neighborhoods, where he and Harris met in middle school. At 6 feet, 6 inches, Floyd emerged as a star tight end for Jack Yates High School and played in the 1992 state championship game in the Houston Astrodome. Yates lost to Temple, 38-20.

Donnell Cooper, one of Floyd’s former classmates, said he remembered watching Floyd score touchdowns. Floyd towered over everyone and earned the nickname “gentle giant.”

“Quiet personality but a beautiful spirit,” Mr. Cooper said. His death “definitely caught me by surprise. It’s just so sad, the world we’re living in now.”

Floyd was charged in 2007 with armed robbery in a home invasion in Houston and in 2009 was sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea deal, according to court documents.

Mr. Harris, Floyd’s childhood friend, said he and some of their mutual friends had moved to Minneapolis in search of jobs around 2014. Mr. Harris said he talked Floyd into moving there as well after he got out of prison.

“He was looking to start over fresh, a new beginning,” Mr. Harris said. “He was happy with the change he was making.”

Floyd landed a job working security at a Salvation Army store in downtown Minneapolis. He later started working two jobs, one driving trucks and another as a bouncer at Conga Latin Bistro, where he was known as “Big Floyd.”

“Always cheerful,” Jovanni Tunstrom, the bistro’s owner, said. “He had a good attitude. He would dance badly to make people laugh. I tried to teach him how to dance because he loved Latin music, but I couldn’t because he was too tall for me. He always called me ‘Bossman.’ I said, ‘Floyd, don’t call me Bossman. I’m your friend.’ ”

Mr. Harris said Floyd was laid off when Minnesota shut down restaurants as part of a stay-at-home order. He said he spoke with Floyd on Sunday night and gave him some information for contacting a temporary jobs agency.

“He was doing whatever it takes to maintain going forward with his life,” Mr. Harris said, adding he couldn’t believe that Floyd would resort to forgery. “I’ve never known him to do anything like that.”

Floyd leaves behind a 6-year-old daughter who still lives in Houston with her mother, Roxie Washington, the Houston Chronicle reported. Efforts to reach Ms. Washington on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

“The way he died was senseless,” Mr. Harris said. “He begged for his life. He pleaded for his life. When you try so hard to put faith in this system, a system that you know isn’t designed for you, when you constantly seek justice by lawful means and you can’t get it, you begin to take the law into your own hands.”

First Published: May 27, 2020, 8:04 p.m.

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A chain portrait of George Floyd sits Wednesday as part of the memorial for him near the site of the arrest of Mr. Floyd, who died in police custody Monday night in Minneapolis after video shared online by a bystander showed a white officer kneeling on his neck during his arrest as he pleaded that he couldn't breathe.  (Jim Mone/Associated Press)
Jim Mone/Associated Press
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