Looting mars peaceful protests in Santa Monica, California
Citywide curfew extended for second night in Los Angeles; Jeff Paul reports.
The lawyer representing the family of George Floyd said in an interview Sunday that he believes the Minneapolis police officer seen in the video pinning Floyd to the ground knew the victim and charges should be upgraded to first-degree murder.
“We believe he knew who George Floyd was,” Benjamin Crump, the lawyer, told CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” He said that Derek Chauvin, the police officer accused of third-degree murder, worked at the same Latin nightclub as recently as last year. The owner said that she was unsure if the men knew each other.
Crump said the two’s shifts there “had to overlap.”
"We think that he had intent based on, not the one minute, two minute, but over eight minutes, almost nine minutes he kept his knee in a man's neck that was begging and pleading for breath," Crump said. "George Floyd died because of the knee being shoved into his neck, and he could not breathe."
Chauvin became the focus of outrage and four days of street protests across the nation this week after he was seen on cellphone video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd for more than eight minutes during his arrest on suspicion of passing a counterfeit bill. Floyd died in custody and Chauvin was fired Tuesday and arrested Friday on charges of third-degree murder and manslaughter.
The three other officers who took part in the arrest were also fired, and they remain under investigation.
Trey Gowdy, the former congressman and Fox News contributor, spoke with Maria Bartiromo on "Sunday Morning Futures" and said "it took too long" to charge Chauvin.
"It took too long. You know, murder one in Minnesota is premeditation with an intent to kill murder two is an intent to kill without the premeditation. Murder three is the doing of an inherently dangerous thing that results in someone's death," Gowdy said. "So my question for the prosecutors and cops in Minnesota, Maria, is if you have a man with your knee on his neck and he is telling you, 'you're killing me, I cannot breathe. You're killing me.' How long's it take for premeditation to manifest itself?"
Protests erupted across the country. On Sunday night, U.S. Marshals and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents have been deployed to the streets of D.C. in an extraordinary move to beef up security alongside local police and Homeland Security agents.
As authorities clashed with demonstrators for the third straight night, the parish house connected to the historic St. John’s Episcopal Church across the street from the White House was set on fire late Sunday.
"We are fortunate that the damage to the buildings is limited," Rev. Rob Fisher, the rector of the church, said in a statement earlier Sunday, several hours before the fire was set.
Fox News' Victor Garcia, Gregg Re and the Associated Press contributed to this report
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