Five years ago, George Floyd, a Black man from Houston, died handcuffed on the ground with a white Minnesota police officer’s knee on his neck.
His dying words of “I can’t breathe” and his crying out for his mother seared the souls of those who saw the viral video and propelled action and protests across Dallas-Fort Worth, the U.S. and the world.
The demonstrations galvanized the Black Lives Matter movement and pushed police reforms, though some see the efforts being abandoned.
In Dallas, a small number of protesters gathered in downtown Sunday in remembrance of Floyd.
Called “We Will Not Go Back: A Day of Resistance,” the Dallas demonstration began at 2 p.m. at Harwood Park and was hosted by the civil rights organization Next Generation Action Network.
Roughly two dozen gathered in Harwood Park, sheltering in the few spots of shade as they listened to a slate of speakers.
Among those who spoke was Maxie Johnson, a Dallas ISD trustee who is heading to Dallas City Hall as the new representative for south Oak Cliff’s District 4 City Council seat.
Next Generation and its regional partners gathered “not just in remembrance, but in resistance,” organizers said in a news release.
“While the officer who killed George Floyd was convicted, there has been no true justice,” said Dominique Alexander, the organization’s president and founder. “Congress has failed to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Civil rights protections are being stripped away. Our Constitution is being twisted to uphold white supremacy. We are gathering because we are at a moral crossroads — and we refuse to go back.”
‘I can’t breathe’
On May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, a convenience store worker accused Floyd, who was with two other people, of paying for cigarettes with a counterfeit $20 bill and called the police.
Four officers responded, and Floyd was handcuffed and detained. Minutes later, Floyd, 46, took his last breath after former police officer Derek Chauvin pinned Floyd to the ground with a knee on his neck as Floyd repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.”
The other three officers held down his legs, knelt on his back and kept bystanders from intervening. A bystander captured it on video.
Floyd’s death — which occurred just a couple of months after Breonna Taylor was shot to death by police in Louisville, Ky., while they were executing a no-knock warrant — triggered protests across the country.
Dallas protests
Protests highlighting police brutality and systemic racism lasted days in Dallas and across the rest of North Texas and drew thousands — and for the most part stayed peaceful.
However, on May 30, 2020, a protest that started peacefully turned heated.
Police used tear gas and later implemented a 7 p.m. curfew in parts of Dallas.
Brandon Saenz was at the May 30 protest looking for a friend when he was hit with less-lethal ammunition that shattered his left eye, he previously told The Dallas Morning News.
Saenz, a Black man who was 26 at the time, lost his eye, seven teeth, and fractured the left side of his face.
Dallas police Senior l. Ryan Mabry, former Dallas police Senior l. Melvin Williams and Garland police Officer Joe Privitt were accused of assaulting demonstrators during 2020 protests downtown and were indicted in 2022 on multiple felony charges.
Mabry was sentenced to three years of probation, according to court records.
Privitt pleaded guilty last year to misdemeanor assault and received a one-year probation sentence, court records show.
All three had to surrender their Texas peace officer license.
Photographer Vincent Doyle lost 60% of vision in his left eye and suffered a smashed cheekbone after investigators said Williams fired a 40 mm launcher and hit his face, according to court records.
Derek Chauvin held in Texas prison
Chauvin, who was convicted in 2021 of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death, was transferred to a low-security federal prison in Big Spring in 2024. The transfer came nearly nine months after he was stabbed 22 times in another facility by a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant.
Chauvin was previously held in Arizona at FCI Tucson in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Sunday’s march
The march Sunday wasn’t just for the five-year anniversary of Floyd’s murder, but was also “a unifying call for Black communities, immigrants, LGBTQIA+ individuals, Indigenous people, poor people, faith leaders, and allies across all lines of difference to rise together,” organizers said in the news release.
“We know their names — Breonna Taylor, Sandra Bland, Atatiana Jefferson, Botham Jean, Mike Brown, Jordan Edwards, Tyre Nichols,” Alexander said. “This event is about truth, dignity, and honoring their lives through bold action. We will not let the sacrifices of our ancestors be erased by this oppressive istration.”
Events were held across the country for the anniversary of Floyd’s death, including in Minneapolis. The events kicked off Friday with concerts, a street festival and a “self-care fair,” and culminated with a worship service, gospel music concert and candlelight vigil on Sunday.
Staff writer Chase Rogers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.