George Floyd's Brother, In Tearful Interview, Demands Officers Be Arrested Over Public 'Execution'

George Floyd's brother is asking that the officers who "executed" his brother, be arrested and "given the death penalty."

Philonise Floyd made the comments on Thursday in an interview with CNN's New Day.

"These guys need to be arrested, convicted of murder and given the death penalty. They need to because they took my brother's life," Philonise said. "We need justice, we need justice. Those four officers need to be arrested. They executed by brother in broad daylight."

George Floyd died on Monday following his arrest by officers from the Minneapolis Police Department who were called to a supermarket to investigate a man attempting to use forged documents. During the arrest, an officer, identified later as Derek Chauvin, was captured on video pinning George to the ground by kneeling on his neck.

In the video, later shared to Facebook, George can be heard telling the officers that he can't breathe. Minutes later he appears to lose consciousness, though Chauvin does not remove his knee.

George was later pronounced dead at the Hennepin County Medical Center, a statement from the police department statement said. A report from the Minneapolis Fire Department indicated that he did not have a pulse when medics arrived to the scene.

According to a police department's statement, the officers found Floyd in his car after they responded to the call and he appeared to be intoxicated. It is unclear if he was immediately restrained after exiting the car, but the department's statement said officers noticed Floyd in "medical distress" after he was placed in handcuffs.

The incident has sparked outrage and backlash from many in the city of Minneapolis, as well as black Americans across the country. The four officers, including Chauvin, were fired Tuesday, but many are joining Philonise Floyd in calling for further action to be taken, including jail time.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey made comments similar to Philonise's during a recent press conference on Wednesday.

"I've wrestled with, more than anything else over the last 36 hours, one fundamental question: Why is the man who killed George Floyd not in jail," Frey said. "If you had done it, or I had done it, we would be behind bars right now."

Frey declined to say what charges he wanted to see placed against the officer.

Following Frey's comments, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office released a statement posted to their website.

"This office is aware of Mayor Frey's comments. We are working with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner to expeditiously gather and review all of the evidence in the tragic death of Mr. George Floyd," the Hennepin County Attorney's Office wrote in their statement. "The videotaped death of Mr. Floyd, which has outraged us and people across the country, deserves the best we can give and that is what this office will do."

Newsweek reached out to the Minneapolis Police Department for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.