George Floyd's death has been ruled as homicide by asphyxia - here's what that means

A medical examiner has classified George Floyd's death as a homicide.

A private post-mortem said his heart stopped as police restrained him and suppressed his neck, in a widely seen video that has sparked protests across the US.

The report found that Floyd “experienced a cardiopulmonary arrest while being restrained by law enforcement officer(s).”

The post-mortem examination, commissioned for Mr Floyd's family, found that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression.

"The cause of death in my opinion is asphyxia, due to compression to the neck - which can interfere with oxygen going to the brain - and compression to the back, which interferes with breathing," said Michael Baden, one of two medical examiner’s who carried out he report.

Bystander video showed officer, Derek Chauvin, who has since been charged with murder, holding his knee on Mr Floyd's neck despite the man's cries that he cannot breathe until he eventually stopped moving.