Edited this story to the real breaking News:
Update: thanks to Bonsai66 — it is now apparent that officer Chauvin knew George Floyd as they had overlapping Security guard work at the same venue:
A former club owner in south Minneapolis says the now-fired police officer and the black man who died in his custody this week both worked security for her club up to the end of last year.
George Floyd and now-former Officer Derek Chauvin both worked security at the El Nuevo Rodeo club on Lake Street, according to Maya Santamaria. Santamaria owned the building for nearly two decades, but sold the venue within the last few months.
"Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open," Santamaria said. "They were working together at the same time, it's just that Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside."
To me the news of a ‘forgery’ claim sounded bogus. Even the store owner who reported a fake $20 bill said that the person who used it, may have had no idea it was bogus.
What are the chances officer Chauvin did not know who he had a knee choke hold on?
I am not a legal expert, (please comment if you have such experience) if Officer Chauvin had some kind of grudge or issue with Floyd and knew who he was, wouldn’t this constitute a pre - meditated act of murder?
original breaking news:
Fox 31 is reporting shots fired at the George Floyd protest:
More to come as this is developing...
DENVER — Protesters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol Thursday and marched downtown to call for action after the death of George Floyd, who died after a now-widely shared video showed a Minneapolis police officer pinning him down with his knee while he repeatedly said “I can’t breathe.”
The four officers seen in the video have been fired, and protests overnight in Minneapolis ended with multiple fires and looted businesses. The mayor of the Minnesota city has called for the officer who pinned Floyd down to be charged.
Denver Police Chief Paul Pazen issued the following statement about Floyd's death on Thursday:
“The Denver Police Department sends our condolences to the family of George Floyd. The actions and type of force used by Minneapolis police officers in the video are inexcusable and contrary to how we train our officers. Treating those we serve with respect is of the utmost importance to me as chief and those who make up the Denver Police Department. The Denver Police Department values the sanctity of life and is committed to respecting and protecting the dignity, safety, and rights of our community members. Recognizing that this practice needed to be put into policy, DPD implemented a revised use of force policy that includes community input, which increases officer accountability while emphasizing de-escalation tactics to reduce the need of use of force.”
As pointed out in the comments, the original news coverage states that the Police do not know if the shots were related, however, at least one elected official at the rally tweeted this:
Colorado State Rep. Leslie Herod (D-Denver) tweeted that “we just got shot at. Capitol” at 5:38 p.m. Thursday. She later clarified that she was not hurt.