PATTERNS

Derek Chauvin Detained an Innocent Black Man 3 Weeks Before George Floyd

Two other officers involved in Floyd’s death were also involved in the earlier detention.

The police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck took part in the rough detention of another Black man just three weeks prior. The man was not charged with any crime. Derek Chauvin, now charged with Floyd’s murder, and officers Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng and Luis Realivasquez responded to a report of a man holding a woman hostage on May 3, 2020. When they arrived, according to video published by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, they roughly detained the wrong man, Adrian Drakeford, who was walking out of the building. His brother was also arrested. The officers never found the 911 caller. Keung and Lane, who are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder for their involvement in Floyd’s death, handcuffed Drakeford while Chauvin looked on. The officers later said they thought Drakeford had a knife. Floyd died on Memorial Day 2020 after Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, prompting Floyd to scream, “I can’t breathe.”