Mother of George Floyd's daughter: 'I want justice for him'

  • Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore

The mother of George Floyd's six-year-old daughter has said she wants "justice" after he died in custody having being restrained by police officers.

Mr Floyd - a black man who was in handcuffs at the time - died after a white Minneapolis officer ignored bystanders' shouts to get off him and Mr Floyd's cries that he couldn't breathe.

America has been rocked by protests sparked by Mr Floyd's death on May 25 - his family joined a march in Mr Floyd's home city of Houston, Texas on the eighth day of action in the country on Tuesday night.

His daughter, Gianna, and her mother Roxie Washington then spoke at a news conference where Ms Washington said: "This is what those officers took [...] Gianna does not have a father."

Speaking about the officers involved in Mr Floyd's arrest, Ms Washington said: "At the end of the day, they get to go home and be with their families."

She added Mr Floyd "will never see her [Gianna] grow up, graduate, he will never walk her down the aisle.

"If there's a problem she's having and she needs her dad, she does not have that anymore.

"I want justice for him because he was good.

"No matter what anybody thinks, he was good.

"And this is the proof that he was a good man."

Ms Washington embraced her daughter after addressing the press conference. Credit: AP

Protests continued across the US overnight on Tuesday - marking the eight consecutive day of action in the country.

Events were largely peaceful, despite President Trump's threats to put army on the streets to end the protests.

In Washington DC, where peaceful protesters were cleared with tear gas on Monday, 1,600 soldiers were moved into the capital by the US Department of Defense in response to the demonstrations.

Demonstrators pause to kneel in protest in Washington DC. Credit: AP

According to their lawyers, a post-mortem examination commissioned for Mr Floyd's family found that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression when Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Mr Floyd's neck for several minutes.

The family's procedure differs from the official post-mortem as described in a criminal complaint against the officer that said it found nothing "to support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation".

Derek Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter and is in custody in a state prison.