SHOCK VIDEO-Minn. Police Under Fire For Keeping A Knee On Suspects Neck, Who Later Died

Federal authorities are investigating a white Minneapolis police officer for possible civil rights violations, after a video surfaced Monday that showed him kneeling on a handcuffed African-American man's neck and ignoring the man's protests that he couldn't breathe. The man later died.

An attorney for the man's family identified him as George Floyd.

"We all watched the horrific death of George Floyd on video as witnesses begged the police officer to take him to the police car and get off his neck," read the statement from attorney Benjamin Crump, who also represents the families of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, two African-Americans killed in recent high-profile incidents. "This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning about a nonviolent charge."

Officials have not publicly named the officer in question, but two sources familiar with the investigation identified him as Derek Chauvin.

The racially charged incident threatened to reignite tensions between police and minority communities that reached a boiling point in 2015 after the fatal shooting of Jamar Clark and a weekslong protest outside a nearby police station.