TIMELINE: What's happened in the three years since George Floyd's murder
George Floyd died under the knee of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020. Here's what's happened since then.
May 25, 2023 marks three years since 46-year-old George Floyd was killed by then-Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin outside the Cup Foods store in south Minneapolis.
Since then, Chauvin has been convicted of murdering Floyd and pleaded guilty to violating his civil rights. The three other officers involved in Floyd's death, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao, were all convicted or took plea deals on state and federal charges as well.
Floyd's killing sparked weeks of protests and brought on a racial reckoning in communities across the country and around the world. In the three years after Floyd's death, the city of Minneapolis has attempted steps to improve accountability within its government and police department, created a Community Commission on Police Oversight, and updated its use-of-force policy to remove controversial restraint tactics.
Below is a day-by-day look at what happened in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, from May 2020 to May 2023.
2020
May 25: Officers respond to a call shortly after 8 p.m. about a possible counterfeit $20 bill being used at a corner store and encounter a Black man, later identified as George Floyd, who struggles and ends up handcuffed and face down on the ground. Officer Derek Chauvin presses his knee into Floyd's neck for 9 1/2 minutes while bystanders shout at him to stop. Video shows Floyd repeatedly crying "I can't breathe" before going limp. He's pronounced dead at a hospital.
May 26: Police issue a statement saying Floyd died after a "medical incident," and that he physically resisted and appeared to be in medical distress. Minutes later, bystander video is posted online. Police release another statement saying the FBI will help investigate. Chauvin and three other officers — Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao — are fired. Protests begin.
May 27: Mayor Jacob Frey calls for criminal charges against Chauvin. Protests lead to unrest in Minneapolis and other cities.
May 28: Gov. Tim Walz activates the Minnesota National Guard. Police abandon the 3rd Precinct station as protesters overtake it and set it on fire.
May 29: Chauvin is arrested and charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. Protests turn violent again in Minneapolis and elsewhere.
May 31: Walz says Attorney General Keith Ellison will lead prosecutions in Floyd's death. Protests continue.
June 1: The county medical examiner finds that Floyd's heart stopped as police restrained him and compressed his neck, noting Floyd had existing health issues and listing fentanyl and methamphetamine use as "other significant conditions."
June 2: Minnesota's Department of Human Rights launches a civil rights investigation into the Minneapolis Police Department.
June 3: Ellison files a tougher second-degree murder charge against Chauvin and charges the other three officers with aiding and abetting both murder and manslaughter.
June 4: A funeral for Floyd is held in Minneapolis, with Rev. Al Sharpton delivering the eulogy.
June 5: Minneapolis bans chokeholds by police, the first of many changes including an overhaul of the police department's use-of-force policy.
June 7: A majority of Minneapolis City Council members say they support dismantling the Police Department. The idea later stalls but sparks a national debate over police reform.
June 8: Thousands pay their respects to Floyd in Houston, where he grew up. He's buried the next day.
June 16: President Donald Trump signs an executive order to encourage better police practices and establish a database to track officers with excessive use-of-force complaints.
July 15: Floyd's family sues Minneapolis and the four former officers.
July 21: The Minnesota Legislature passes a broad slate of police accountability measures that include bans on neck restraints, chokeholds and so-called warrior-style training.
Oct. 7: Chauvin posts $1 million bond and is released from state prison, sparking more protests.
Nov. 5: Judge Peter Cahill rejects defense requests to move the officers' state trials.
WATCH: Power to Change: The Legacy of George Floyd
2021
Jan. 12: Cahill rules Chauvin will be tried alone due to courtroom capacity issues.
March 9: Questioning of potential jurors in Chauvin's state trial begins.
March 12: Minneapolis agrees to pay a $27 million settlement to the Floyd family.
March 19: Judge declines to delay or move Chauvin's trial over concerns that the settlement could taint the jury pool.
March 29: Opening statements are given.
April 12: Judge declines a request to sequester Chauvin's jury due to the death of Daunte Wright, who was shot by former Brooklyn Center Police Officer Kim Potter on April 11.
April 19: The jury begins deliberations after prosecutors and the defense issue closing arguments
April 20: Jury convicts Chauvin on murder and manslaughter charges.
April 21: Federal Department of Justice opens sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis.
May 7: Federal grand jury indicts Chauvin, Lane, Kueng and Thao on civil rights charges.
May 25: On the one-year anniversary of Floyd's death, a street festival, musical performances and moments of silence are held in Minneapolis and elsewhere. Floyd family members meet with President Joe Biden in Washington to discuss police reforms.
June 25: Cahill sentences Chauvin to 22 1/2 years in prison, after agreeing with prosecutors that aggravating factors warranted more than the 12 1/2-year sentence prescribed under state guidelines.
Nov. 2: Minneapolis voters reject a proposal to replace the city's Police Department with a new Department of Public Safety.
Dec. 15: Chauvin pleads guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd's civil rights. He is later sentenced to 21 years in federal prison and will serve his state and federal sentences concurrently.
WATCH: Minneapolis reacts to guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin trial
2022
Jan. 20: A jury is picked in the federal civil rights trial of the other three officers.
Feb. 24: Thao, Kueng and Lane are convicted on federal charges. All three were found guilty of depriving Floyd of his right to medical care, and Thao and Kueng were convicted of failing to intervene to stop Chauvin. Lane is later sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison, Kueng to three years and Thao to 3 1/2 years.
March 31: An external review commissioned by the Department of Public Safety finds several problems with Minnesota's response to civil unrest following Floyd's killing, including a lack of clear leadership.
April 27: A state investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights finds the Minneapolis Police Department has engaged in a pattern of race discrimination. A federal probe of the department continues.
May 18: Lane pleads guilty to a state count of aiding and abetting manslaughter, averting a trial. He is later sentenced to three years, to be served at the same time as his federal sentence.
May 25: On the two-year anniversary of Floyd's killing, the intersection where he was killed is renamed "George Perry Floyd Square." Separately, President Joe Biden signs an executive order to improve accountability in policing.
Oct. 24: Hours before jury selection was set to begin in the state trial of Kueng and Thao, Kueng pleads guilty to aiding and abetting manslaughter and Thao agrees to a stipulated evidence trial.
Dec. 9: Kueng is sentenced to 42 months in prison after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting manslaughter in George Floyd's murder.
2023
Jan. 18: The attorney for Chauvin asks a judge court to throw out his convictions in the murder of George Floyd, arguing that numerous legal and procedural errors deprived him of a fair trial.
Jan. 31: Attorneys for Tou Thao file their closing arguments in his stipulated facts trial. A judge has 90 days to issue a ruling.
Feb. 9: The Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board votes to ban people who belong to or support any white supremacist or extremist groups from obtaining a license.
March 15: Minnesota courts will allow greater audiovisual coverage of criminal proceedings starting in 2024 under an order filed by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Worldwide broadcasts and live streams of Chauvin's 2021 trial were allowed under special pandemic rules and were widely seen as a success.
March 17: Derek Chauvin is sentenced to 13 months in prison for tax evasion.
March 31: Minneapolis City Council votes to accept a settlement with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights that mandates changes for the city's police department following the murder of George Floyd. A civil rights investigation had determined there was "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act."
WATCH: City council approves settlement on future of Minneapolis police department
April 13: Minneapolis settles two cases involving Chauvin and pays out nearly $8.9 million in damages.
April 17: The Minnesota Court of Appeals upholds the most serious murder conviction against Chauvin. The Minneapolis Police Department confirms it has updated its Policy and Procedure Manual to ban controversial restraint tactics, including the hobble restraint device.
April 27: The Minneapolis City Council approves Community Commission on Police Oversight, a group of civilians granted oversight of MPD practices, policies, and complaints against officers.
May 2: A Hennepin County judge rules Tou Thao is guilty of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter in the 2020 death of George Floyd in his stipulated evidence trial.
May 18: Derek Chauvin appeals his murder conviction to the Minnesota Supreme Court, arguing the district judge's decision not to move the proceedings out of the city deprived him of a fair trial.
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