Twenty-four hours later furious orange flames pockmarked the city blocks surrounding the Third Police Precinct where Officer Derek Chauvin was based.
Sprinkler systems saved at least two grocery stores from burning to the ground, but other businesses were at the mercy of the flames.
Widely seen video footage showed Chauvin kneeling on the 46-year-old Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he complained that he couldn’t breathe and pleaded for his life.
The city of Minneapolis fired Chauvin and three other officers.
Others wrote “I can’t breathe” in red spray paint, the words Floyd is heard saying on the video of his last conscious moments.
