911 Call That Preceded George Floyd Arrest, Death Released

The transcript of the 911 call that preceded the arrest and death of George Floyd was released by Minneapolis city officials Thursday evening. The call, made shortly after 8 p.m. on Monday, reported a man who paid for cigarettes with counterfeit money, the transcript shows.

"Um someone comes our store and give us fake bills and we realize it before he left the store, and we ran back outside, they was sitting on their car," the caller tells the 911 dispatcher. "We tell them to give us their phone, put their (inaudible) thing back and everything and he was also drunk and everything and return to give us our cigarettes back and so he can, so he can go home but he doesn’t want to do that, and he’s sitting on his car cause he is awfully drunk and he’s not in control of himself."

The caller gives the dispatcher the license plate number of the car and describes it as being a blue van.

"So, this guy gave a counterfeit bill, has your cigarettes, and he’s under the influence of something?" the dispatcher asks at one point.

"Something like that, yes," the caller responds. "He is not acting right."

After asking for a description, the sex and race of the man, the dispatcher says help is on the way.

• Read the full transcript of the 911 call.

Floyd, 46, died Monday after being arrested following the forgery call. In a video that has been seen countless times, a police officer is seen placing his knee on Floyd's neck as he says he cannot breathe. A report from the Minneapolis Fire Department said Floyd had no pulse when he was put into an ambulance at the scene of his arrest.

According to the original statement released by the Minneapolis police on the incident, Floyd died at the Hennepin County Medical Center after he was taken there by ambulance.

Floyd's death sparked outrage and protest in the Twin Cities area and across the country. Demonstrations in Minneapolis turned ugly Wednesday as building were broken into, looted and burned. The Lake Street Target store was completely ransacked, and an Auto Zone location was burned down. Another demonstration broke out in Saint Paul Thursday with a fire breaking out at another auto shop.

On Thursday, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz activated the National Guard to deal with the violence.

In a news conference Thursday, law enforcement officials urged the public to be patient as they conducted their investigations into the conduct of the officers involved in the arrest, all four of whom have been fired from the police force.

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