Global protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis

There have been global mass protests following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020 after his arrest by a Minneapolis police officer. George was handcuffed and restrained and was seen to be cooperative when the officer put his knee on George’s neck for a period of approximately 9 minutes. George screamed that he could not breathe and bystanders begged the police officer to take his knee off George’s neck, but the officer didn’t listen and George later died. The event, which was filmed, has led to civil unrest in a number of cities across the USA and protests around the world.

Protesters across the US are demanding accountability, says co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement and the chair of Reform L.A. Jails, Patrisse Cullors. She told ABC's Nightline that those protesting want to see all the officers involved in the murder of George Floyd arrested.

“They want to have no more terror, no more police terror in their communities,” she added.

“Everybody wants to be apologised to. Everybody wants to be told, ‘I'm sorry. What I did was wrong. It was unacceptable. We don't do it again and, in fact, this is how we change'.

“We barely get a sorry, we rarely get accountability and we never get change.”

‘Justice for George Floyd’ petition

A ‘Justice for George Floyd’ petition on Change.org has gained nearly 11.5 million signatures and is asking Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and District Attorney Mike Freeman to have the police officers concerned criminally charged.

George Floyd's death has been declared a homicide following an official post-mortem examination and the fired police officer who has been charged with murdering Floyd will face a court next week.