White police officers under fire for brutality against a black man

In a horrific video circulating online, a black man is dead and video shows a white Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer kneeling on his neck for minutes-on-end during an attempted arrest, prompting officials to announce a federal investigation Wednesday. The image has caused furore online with most people expressing anger and disappointment at the conduct of the white police officers.

The man “physically resisted” officers after he exited a vehicle during the arrest, police spokesman John Elder said during a news conference.“Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs, and officers noticed the male was going into medical distress,” he said.Neither the man, nor the officers involved, have been officially identified.But Benjamin Crump, a high-profile attorney who has represented the families of several black men and women who have been killed in incidents with police officers, said the man’s name is George Floyd

.Crump said he has been retained by the man’s family.Officers were reportedly responding to a call of a forgery in progress when the arrest began.Video captured by a bystander and posted on Facebook appears to show the victim pinned to the ground, pleading he cannot breathe for nearly four minutes as an officer holds his neck to the ground with his knee.Shortly after he appears to lose consciousness, but the officer maintains his position on the man, who officials said is in his forties.The man’s pulse is checked about three minutes after he stops gasping for air while the officer continues to press his knee on the his neck, but it is unclear from the video what the assessment was at that point. He is then loaded on to a stretcher and moved into an ambulance.