8 minutes and 45 seconds -- the amount of time George Floyd was pinned to the ground -- is becoming a powerful numerical symbol in protests that continue across the U.S.
MINNEAPOLIS -- All protest movements have slogans. George Floyd's has a number: 8:46
In Boston and Tacoma, Washington, demonstrators this week lay down on streets staging "die-ins" for precisely 8 minutes, 46 seconds. In Houston, churchgoers held candles and bowed their heads in silence, experiencing the crawl of time. "Our black community is hurting, and many of us are searching for ways to stand up for what we believe, and reach out to people we love to show solidarity," he said.
The source of the number is clear, although the calculation behind it isn't. The criminal complaint charging former Officer Derek Chauvin in Floyd's murder concludes that Chauvin "had his knee on Mr. Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive."
"Seven minutes is a long time to have a knee on someone's neck regardless," said Jared Fishman, a former federal civil rights prosecutor. That said, Fishman said it's a detail defence lawyers will scrutinize in court.
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