Minneapolis, Minnesota cop Thomas Lane handcuffs George Floyd

Why was George Floyd arrested?

It was Thomas Kiernan Lane, 37, who handcuffed George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The latter was originally from Houston, Texas, USA.

Lane is one of the three Minneapolis Police Department officers involved in the fatal arrest of Floyd. The others are J Alexander Kueng, a rookie cop like Lane, and two veterans namely Derek Michael Chauvin and Tou Nmn Thao.

Floyd died almost 90 minutes after the arrest. He was 46.

On May 25, 2020, Lane, Chauvin, Thao and Kueng, responded to a report from an employee at Cup Foods at 3759 Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis claiming that a customer bought cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill. It was Lane’s fourth day on the police force.

It was Lane and Kueng who arrived at the scene first and approached the parked car of Floyd, who matched the suspect’s descriptions. Chauvin and Thao followed minutes later in a separate squad car.

Lane pointed his gun at Floyd’s open window and directed the black man to show his hands but the cop put his gun back in its holster after the suspect put his hands on the steering wheel. Lane handcuffed Floyd after ordering him out of his car.

After pulling Floyd out of his car, Lane ordered the suspect to sit on the ground and asked for his name and identification. Lane told Floyd he was arrested for passing counterfeit currency.

On May 26, 2020, the Minneapolis Police Department fired Lane, Kueng, Chauvin and Thao. Lane was still in his probationary period.