International

Ex-US police officer who ‘killed George Floyd’ released on bail

BY Chinedu Asadu

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A former US police officer accused of killing George Floyd, an African-American, has been released from prison on bail.

Derek Chauvin was released on Wednesday after posting a $1m bond.

He had been at the Minnesota Correctional Facility since May 31 awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

The former police officer was recorded pressing his knee on Floyd’s neck in an attempt to arrest him before he died earlier in May.

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An autopsy later confirmed the cause of Floyd’s death was the forceful restraint on his neck for almost eight minutes.

His death triggered nationwide protests for police reforms in the US.

The protests, spearheaded by the Black Lives Matter movement, also came on the heels of similar cases of police brutality targeting black people in America.

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Chauvin was sacked from his job alongside three other officers involved in the incident.

The three — J Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — were charged with aiding and abetting murder.

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