Independent autopsy finds George Floyd died of asphyxia
An independent autopsy has found that George Floyd, whose death in Minneapolis has sparked riots over the past week, died of asphyxia.
The private autopsy report commissioned by Floyd’s family found his death was a homicide from “asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain”.
It contradicts the preliminary autopsy led by the county medical examiner which said there had been “no physical findings” to “support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation”.
The death of Floyd, an unarmed black man killed by a white Minneapolis police officer, has sparked nearly a week of riots. The police officer responsible, Derek Chauvin, knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes and has since been sacked and charged with third degree murder.
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Authorities have implemented curfews across dozens of American cities – the most since 1968 in the aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination.
In California there was widespread looting and vandalism, while violence broke out in Boston as protesters threw bottles at police officers and set a police car on fire.
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President Donald Trump, who is yet to address the nation, today called on state governors to crack down on the protests.
Speaking to governors on a private call, he reportedly told them that they “have to dominate” the protestors. In a string of tweets, the President also called those protesting “thugs” and threatened to use the military.
In the call to governors he said: “If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time – they’re going to run over you, you’re going to look like a bunch of jerks”.
Trump has sought to blame the violence on the anti-fascist Antifa movement, which he yesterday said would be designated a terrorist organisation.
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