Three more police officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been charged, and the charge against the first officer has been upgraded to second-degree murder.
Derek Chauvin, the officer filmed kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes in Minneapolis, was fired and initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The three other officers involved were also fired but were not immediately charged.
But, on Wednesday, the Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison charged Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, and also upgraded the charge against Mr Chauvin.
The video showing Mr Floyd's death has sparked protests around the world against police brutality.
Mr Floyd's family and protesters have repeatedly called for criminal charges against all four officers as well as more serious charges for Mr Chauvin, who held his knee to Mr Floyd's neck, despite his protests that he could not breathe.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Floyd family's attorney demanded that all four officers be charged.
"He died because he was starving for air," Ben Crump said. "He needed a breath. So we are demanding justice. We expect all of the police officers to be arrested before we have the memorial here in Minneapolis, Minnesota, tomorrow."
Mr Crump said the other officers failed to protect a man who was pleading for help and said he couldn't breathe.
Following the charges, Mr Crump tweeted that the Floyd family was "deeply gratified" by Ellison's action and called it "a source of peace for George's family in this difficult time."
The official autopsy by the county medical examiner concluded that Floyd's death was caused by cardiac arrest as police restrained him and compressed his neck. The medical examiner also listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use, but not as the cause of death.
But Mr Crump and the Floyd family commissioned a separate autopsy which concluded he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression due to Mr Chauvin's knee on his neck and other responding officers' knees in his back, which made it impossible for him to breathe.
