George Floyd’s family march alongside hundreds to mark ‘painful’ year since his death

Relatives and demonstrators gathered in a rally to mark the first anniversary of the death that triggered protest against racism and police brutality across the US and around the world.

Mr Floyd died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes on May 25 last year.

His dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry in a wave of street demonstrations against his killing.

Derek Chauvin, a white former Minneapolis policeman, was found guilty of murdering him.

He and three other former Minneapolis police officers faced federal civil rights charges for their role in the arrest and murder of Floyd, according to court documents unsealed this month.

Mr Floyd’s family took to the streets of Minneapolis on Sunday and marched with hundreds of people in the first of several events planned nationwide to mark the anniversary of his death.

Many people in the crowd carried signs with pictures of Mr Floyd and other black people killed by police.

“It has been a long year. It has been a painful year,” his sister, Bridgett Floyd, told the crowd.

“It has been very frustrating for me and my family for our lives to change in the blink of an eye – I still don’t know why,” she said, referring to her brother’s death.

Other speakers at the event included the Floyd family attorney Ben Crump and civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton, who has called for an end to racial inequality in the criminal justice system with the demand “get your knee off our necks.”