Minneapolis mayor calls for charges against white officer in death of George Floyd

(ABC NEWS) – The mayor of Minneapolis called on prosecutors Wednesday to file criminal charges against a white police officer seen in a viral video pressing his knee into the neck of an African American man who is repeatedly heard in the footage saying “I can’t breathe” before he died.

Mayor Jacob Frey said at a news conference that he has contacted the office of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to demand justice for George Floyd and his family.

“I’ve wrestled with, more than anything else over the last 36 hours, one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail?” Frey said. “If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now. I cannot come up with a good answer to that question and so I’m calling upon Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to act on the evidence before him. I’m calling on him to charge the arresting officer in this case.”