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George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020) was a black American man who was murdered by a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during an arrest made after a store clerk suspected Floyd may have used a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill, on May 25, 2020. Derek Chauvin, one of four police officers who arrived on the scene, knelt on Floyd's neck and back for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, causing his death from a lack of oxygen. After his murder, a series of protests against police brutality, especially towards black people, quickly spread across the United States and globally. His dying words, "I can't breathe", became a rallying slogan. Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Floyd grew up in Houston, Texas, playing football and basketball throughout high school and college. Between 1997 and 2005, he was convicted of eight crimes. He served four years in prison after accepting a plea bargain for a 2007 aggravated robbery in a home invasion. After he was paroled in 2013, he served as a mentor in his religious community and posted anti-violence videos to social media. In 2014, he moved to the Minneapolis area, residing in the nearby suburb of St. Louis Park, and worked as a truck driver and bouncer. In 2020, he lost both jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following his death, the City of Minneapolis settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Floyd's family for $27 million. Chauvin was convicted on two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter on April 20, 2021, and on June 25, 2021, was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison. The other three officers at the scene were also later convicted of violating Floyd's civil rights. Early life and education Floyd was born on October 14, 1973, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, to George Perry (1949–2002) and Larcenia "Cissy" Jones Floyd (1947–2018). He had four siblings. When he was two, after Floyd's parents separated, his mother moved with the children to the Cuney Homes public housing, known as the Bricks, in Houston's Third Ward, a historically African-American neighborhood. Floyd was called Perry as a child, but also Big Floyd; being over six feet (183 cm) tall in middle school, he saw sports as a vehicle for improving his life. Floyd attended Ryan Middle School, and graduated from Yates High School in 1993. While at Yates, he was co-captain of the basketball team playing as a power forward. He was also on the football team as a tight end, and in 1992, his team went to the Texas state championships. The first of his siblings to go to college, Floyd attended South Florida Community College for two years on a football scholarship, and also played on the basketball team. He transferred to Texas A&M University–Kingsville in 1995, where he also played basketball before dropping out. Floyd became a friend of future National Basketball Association (NBA) player Stephen Jackson, who was referred to as his "twin" because of their strong resemblance to one another, after being introduced in the mid-1990s. At his tallest, he was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm) and by the time of his autopsy, he was 6 feet 4 inches (193 cm) tall and weighed 223 pounds (101 kg). Adult life Post-college Floyd returned to Houston from college in Kingsville, Texas, in 1995 where he became an automotive customizer and played club basketball. Beginning in 1994, he performed as a rapper using the stage name Big Floyd in the hip-hop group Screwed Up Click. The New York Times described his deep-voiced rhymes as "purposeful", delivered in a slow-motion clip about "'choppin' blades' – driving cars with oversize rims – and his Third Ward pride." The second rap group he was involved in was Presidential Playas and he worked on their album Block Party released in 2000. Criminal convictions Between 1997 and 2005, Floyd served eight jail terms on various charges, including drug possession, theft, and trespass. In one of these cases, Floyd was convicted of possessing half a gram of crack cocaine in 2004 based on the sole testimony of police officer Gerald Goines. Later in 2019, Goines' involvement in the Harding Street raid led to Goines being investigated for a pattern of falsifying evidence, resulting in the District Attorney of Harris County, Texas, requesting in April 2021 a posthumous pardon for this particular conviction of Floyd's due to Goines' lack of credibility. In October 2021, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles recommended Floyd be pardoned for this conviction, but withdrew the recommendation (and also withdrew 24 other clemency recommendations) in December 2021 citing "procedural errors and lack of compliance with board rules", while announcing that they would reconsider these recommendations. In 2007, Floyd faced charges for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon; according to investigators, he had entered an apartment by impersonating a water department worker and barging in with five other men, then held a pistol to a woman's stomach and searched for items to steal. Floyd was arrested three months later during a traffic stop, and victims of the robbery identified him from a photo array. In 2009, Floyd was sentenced to five years in prison as part of a plea deal, and was paroled in January 2013. Post-prison life After his release, Floyd became more involved with Resurrection Houston, a Christian church and ministry, where he mentored young men and posted anti-violence videos to social media. He delivered meals to senior citizens and volunteered with other projects, such as the Angel By Nature Foundation, a charity founded by rapper Trae tha Truth. Later, Floyd became involved with a ministry that brought men from the Third Ward to Minnesota in a church-work program with drug rehabilitation and job placement services. A friend of his acknowledged that Floyd "had made some mistakes that cost him some years of his life", but that he had been turning his life around through religion. In 2014, Floyd moved to Minneapolis to help rebuild his life and find work. Soon after his arrival, he completed a 90-day rehabilitation program at the Turning Point program in north Minneapolis. Floyd expressed the need for a job and took up security work at Harbor Light Center, a Salvation Army homeless shelter. He lost the job at Harbor Light and took several other jobs. Floyd hoped to earn a commercial driver's license to operate trucks. He passed the required drug test and administrators of the program felt his criminal past did not pose a problem, but he dropped out as his job at a nightclub made it difficult to attend morning classes, and he felt pressure to earn money. Floyd later moved to St. Louis Park and lived with former colleagues. Floyd continued to battle drug addiction and went through periods of use and sobriety. An influential member of his community, Floyd was respected for his ability to relate with others in his environment based on a shared experience of hardships and setbacks, having served time in prison and living in a poverty.... Discover the Floyd Brown Ii popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Floyd Brown Ii books.