According to Fox News
Results released Monday from two separate autopsies declared the May 25 death of George Floyd at the hands of police to be a homicide.
Attorneys for Floyd’s family released the results of an independent autopsy report Monday afternoon showing that Floyd’s death was caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.
The family’s attorney, Ben Crump, announced the autopsy results during an afternoon news conference. Crump said the autopsy found the compression cut off blood to Floyd’s brain, and weight on his back made it hard to breathe.
Another autopsy, conducted by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s office, stated that Floyd died from “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual restraint, and neck compression” while being restrained, Fox 9 reported. Its updated results went public Monday evening.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden was one of two doctors hired by the Floyd family to conduct an independent review after prosecutors said a preliminary finding from the official autopsy concluded the combined effects of being restrained, potential intoxicants in Floyd’s system and his underlying health issues, including heart disease, likely contributed to his death.
A video showing a white officer was kneeling on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes before his death has sparked national riots in major cities from San Francisco to Boston.
Baden has conducted other independent reviews in similar cases of police brutality including that of Eric Garner, a black man who was placed in a chokehold by New York police who were attempting to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes and would not relent even as he pleaded that he could not breathe.