George Floyd: the 9 minutes and 29 seconds that sparked a civil rights movement

In his opening statement, the prosecutor in the trial of Derek Chauvin, the white police officer accused of killing black man George Floyd, told jurors: “Nine-two-nine: these are the most important numbers in the case.”

The 9.29 that attorney Jerry Blackwell refers to is the number of minutes and seconds Mr Chauvin had his knee pressed on Mr Floyd's neck.

For the duration the Minneapolis police officer bore down with most of his weight while Mr Floyd lay face down with his hands cuffed behind his back.

The moment of the 46-year-old's death - and the moments leading up to it - have been pieced together using video taken by bystanders, from CCTV and from the officers' own body cams.

The footage of Mr Floyd crying out "I can't breathe" before he died touched off protests across the US and the world.

Why were the police called?

The court in Minnesota was shown CCTV footage from inside Cup Foods, the Minneapolis shop Mr Floyd had visited on May 25 at around 7.30pm to buy a pack of cigarettes.

In the surveillance footage, Mr Floyd can be seen laughing with employees and shoppers as he moves around the store, at one point holding a banana and at another point pulling out what appears to be some cash.

Christopher Martin, a 19-year-old store clerk, testified that he had spoken briefly about sports with Mr Floyd and that he had appeared to be on a drug of some kind. An autopsy determined that Mr Floyd had taken fentanyl and had recently used methamphetamines.

After selling Mr Floyd some cigarettes, Mr Martin said he realised that the 46-year-old had given him a bill with some “blue pigment” on it that made him think it was counterfeit. Mr Martin said the store had a policy that clerks who accepted a fake bill had to pay to replace it themselves.

He asked a manager what to do and a manager told him to go to Mr Floyd, who was sitting outside in a car, and ask him to come inside, which Mr Martin said he tried to do twice. When he refused, Mr Martin said he offered to pay for the purchase himself but that the manager had him call the police.

In a transcript of the 911 call that was made, Mr Martin said Mr Floyd had paid for cigarettes with “fake bills” and was sitting in his car outside the store “awfully drunk” and “not in control of himself”.

Police try to arrest Floyd over counterfeit $20 bill

Two officers, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, arrive minutes after the call is made. They order Mr Floyd out of the car. Officer Lane then pulls out his gun from its holster and orders Mr Floyd to put his hands on the wheel.

After about 90 seconds of back-and-forth, Mr Lane then puts his gun back in the holster before yanking Mr Floyd out of the SUV.

The encounter is being filmed by a bystander in a car parked behind Mr Floyd’s.

The police handcuff Mr Floyd with his hands behind his back and walk him to the wall by Cup Foods. He appears to be in pain already at this point, and has his face scrunched up.

Six minutes into the attempted arrest, the two officers try to move Mr Floyd to their vehicle but Mr Floyd falls to the ground. According to a criminal complaint, Mr Floyd says he is claustrophobic and refuses to enter.

Minutes later, two more officers arrive - Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao. Mr Chauvin joins in trying to get Mr Floyd into the car. Mr Chauvin then pulls him from the back seat back onto the street.

Clock starts on the 9.29 seconds

Mr Floyd, who was a father of four, is now laying on the street face down. This is when two more witnesses begin filming and the picture becomes clearer. All four officers are gathered around Mr Floyd. Three - Chauvin, Mr Kueng and Mr Lane - are either kneeling or applying pressure on Mr Floyd.

Just over two minutes after this, the officers issue a “Code Two”, a non-emergency call for medical assistance due to an injury to Mr Floyd’s mouth, which is bleeding. It is quickly upgraded to a Code Three.

Despite this, Chauvin continues to apply pressure on Mr Floyd’s neck.

It is not clear from the videos where the other officers are at this point. Mr Floyd is heard crying “I can’t breathe”. He repeats the same cry 16 times in less than five minutes. People in the crowd tell Mr Floyd to get into the police car and he replies “I can’t, I can’t move”.

He can be heard saying “my stomach hurts, my neck hurts. Everything hurts”. He then calls out “mama, mama”. His mother, Larcenia, or Cissy, had died two years earlier.

Mr Floyd’s eyes are now closed and he appears to be unconscious. Chauvin keeps his knee on his neck as bystanders shout “get off of him, what’s wrong with y’all?”

According to the criminal complaint, Mr Lane asks if they should roll Mr Floyd onto his side. Chauvin says no.

Help arrives, too late

At 8.27pm, 20 minutes into his arrest, an ambulance arrives. The paramedics check his pulse, while Chauvin keeps his knee in place for another minute, removing it only when asked by the paramedics.

They load Mr Floyd into the ambulance, which leaves the scene.

The police officers call the fire department to help, but when they arrive give them no clear information as to the ambulance’s whereabouts, according to a fire department incident report.

It takes them five minutes to find them, during which time Mr Floyd goes into cardiac arrest.

He is pronounced dead at a nearby hospital at 9.25pm.