U.S. Charges Officer With Second-Degree Murder Of George Floyd

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – U.S. prosecutors have charged a white Minneapolis police officer with the more serious charge of second-degree murder for allegedly pressing his knee on the neck of unarmed black man George Floyd, who later died.

The updated criminal complaint against Derek Chauvin released Wednesday says the officer’s actions were a “substantial causal factor” in Floyd’s death.

And for the first time, prosecutors charged three other officers at the scene as they allegedly aided and abetted in Chauvin’s actions. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement that warrants were issued for their arrests. Chauvin was already in custody.

The announcement followed another night of protests in the United States, sparked by outrage over Floyd’s death and years of reported police abuse towards minorities.

Undeterred by curfews, thousands of protesters massed into the nation’s streets. They gathered hours after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to use the military to end violence and looting that overshadowed peaceful rallies.

In an abrupt reversal, Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Wednesday overturned an earlier Pentagon decision to send a couple of hundred active-duty soldiers home from the Washington, D.C., region. It comes amid growing tensions with the White House over the military response to the protests.

Amid the turmoil, thousands of demonstrators massed a block away from the presidential mansion, facing law enforcement personnel standing behind a black chain-link fence.

The fence was put up overnight to block access to Lafayette Park, just across the street from the White House. But in Washington and across the nation, most protests passed peacefully since late Tuesday, several reporters said.

While there were scattered reports of looting in New York City, and attacks against journalists, the country appeared calmer by late Tuesday than it did a day earlier.

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