Eight minutes 46 seconds


Eight minutes 46 seconds is a symbol of police brutality associated with the killing of George Floyd. He died in police custody after officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost eight minutes. The duration was reported for weeks as 8:46 until prosecutors acknowledged an error and revised the length of time to 7:46. In the days following his death, and the protests that followed, the 8:46 time span has become a focus of commemorations and debates, especially around Blackout Tuesday.
The time has been specifically referenced in "die-in" protests in Minneapolis, New York, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Chicago, Denver and other cities, where protesters lay down for eight minutes 46 seconds to protest police brutality and the racialized killings by law enforcement officers in the United States. The timespan has also been used in numerous commemorations, vigils and gatherings to recognize Floyd and protest his killing, including at his memorial on June 4, 2020.

Calculation of timespan

The duration is of Chauvin placing his knee on Floyd's neck, starting after Floyd was taken from his car and restrained by the Minneapolis Police Department. Chauvin proceeded to apply a neck restraint while Floyd was lying restless on his stomach. The Hennepin County Attorney's complaint against Chauvin said:
The charging complaint records Floyd being pulled out of the squad car at 8:19:38 p.m. and Chauvin applying his knee to Floyd's neck until 8:27:24 p.m. It has been noted that these timestamps add up to 7:46 rather than 8:46, though the latter time span has been the focus of public commentary and commemorations. On June 17, the prosecution admitted that the complaint was off by one minute and reassessed the actual time to be 7 minutes and 46 seconds. According to The New York Times, a reconstruction of events from videos shows the duration was closer to 8 minutes and 15 seconds.

Protests and commemorations

In addition to the die-ins that have used eight minutes 46 seconds as their staged length, numerous marches and gatherings have used the duration to mark moments of silence, vigils, prayers, traffic-slowdowns or taking a knee. George Floyd's memorial in Minneapolis on June 4, 2020 ended with mourners standing for 8:46 to commemorate Floyd.

Cities and institutions

In St. Petersburg, Florida, city officials announced that from June 2 to June 9, citizens should, "join together in a silent and peaceful protest by standing outside on their front porch or yard for 8 minutes and 46 seconds" each night at 8:00 P.M.
Following the example of New York City's Empire State Building, the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. has stated that it would go dark for nine nights to acknowledge the nearly nine minutes Floyd was held with a neck restraint.
On June 9, 2020, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz issued a proclamation declaring eight minutes 46 seconds of silence at 11:00 a.m. CDT in memory of George Floyd, which coincided with the beginning of Floyd's funeral in Houston, Texas that day.

Political

Senators observed eight minutes 46 seconds of silence, with some kneeling, during their caucus meeting on June 4, 2020.

Corporations

The Google technology company held an eight-minute-and-46-second moment of silence for its employees on June 3, 2020, to honor black lives lost in relation to the death of George Floyd.
The New York Stock Exchange observed 8:46 of silence to coincide with Floyd's funeral in Houston, Texas. This was the longest moment of silence ever held in its 228-year history.
On June 3, 2020, the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team announced they were lighting up their home sports stadium to honor George Floyd.

Media

In solidarity with a music industry campaign, #TheShowMustBePaused, major streaming services Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music all scheduled special related programming to pay tribute to the death of Floyd.
ViacomCBS aired an eight-minute 46-second long quasi-public service announcement on 11 of their television channels at 5 p.m. EST on June 1, 2020. At the same time, children's television channel Nickelodeon, another ViacomCBS property, stopped programming for 8:46 and displayed message in "support of justice, equality, and human rights."
On June 12, 2020, Netflix released , a 27 minute and 20 second video of newly recorded stand-up by comedian Dave Chappelle on the YouTube channel "Netflix Is a Joke", in which Chapelle primarily tackles the topic of George Floyd that is referenced by the title.