Freedom Fighter Philomena Wankenge holds her hand in the air during a rally on Capitol Hill as ctivists lay face down during a rally on Capitol Hill, for more than eight minutes symbolizing the amount of time George Floyd was pinned under the knee of a former police officer in Minneapolis when he was killed. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a black man, was killed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. During an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white American police officer, kept his knee on the side of Floyd's neck for almost nine minutes while Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down. During the last three minutes, Floyd was motionless. After Floyd's death, demonstrations and protests against racism and police brutality were held across the US and the world, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the movement and gathering restrictions put in place by governments to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.