George Floyd died of “mechanical asphyxiation,” concludes an independent autopsy commissioned by the Floyd family.

“The officers killed him,” Benjamin Crump (photo), the Floyd family attorney said at a Monday afternoon press conference moments ago. He “said an independent autopsy found his death was homicide,” The New York Times adds.

.@AttorneyCrump, the lawyer for the family of George Floyd, says the independent family autopsy found Floyd died “by asphyxia due to neck & back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.”

Big: Crump says physical acts by other officers also caused Floyd’s death. pic.twitter.com/5XsxQDLKHf

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 1, 2020

Crump said the family wants all four officers to be charged with first degree murder. Only one of the four officers has been arrested.

BIG.

Hennepin County autopsy report found heart disease, hypertension & “potential intoxicants” contributed to George Floyd’s death.

Dr. Michael Baden says no underlying health problems contributed. It was compression of neck & back. “He couldn’t breathe and that is homicidal.”

— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 1, 2020

The Hennepin County’s medical examiner’s autopsy offered different conclusions.

Live video:

Attorney Ben Crump holds a news conference to announce findings of an independent autopsy of George Floyd. WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/qZHSbbWiKu

— ABC News (@ABC) June 1, 2020

According to a report in The Guardian, Chinese state media and government leaders are mocking reports that Donald Trump fled to a secure bunker under the White House in the face of massive police brutality protests that reached the White House gates.

Following reports that a “rattled” Trump was ushered to safety by the Secret Service as police battled with George Floyd protesters in the streets of Washington, D.C, among other cities, officials in China took notice.

“At a press conference on Monday, foreign ministry spokesman, Lijian Zhao urged the US to eliminate racial discrimination and protect the lawful rights of minorities, according to state-backed media, CGTN. ‘The death of George Floyd reflects the severity of racial discrimination and police brutality in the US,’ said Zhao,” reports the Guardian. “Zhao also threatened ‘counter-attacks’ on the US for continued retaliatory measures over China’s increased control over Hong Kong, which include reversing Hong Kong’s special customs status. On Sunday China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying posted ‘I can’t breathe’ – Floyd’s last words – to Twitter, with a screenshot of her American counterpart criticizing China’s crackdown on Hong Kong.”

More pointed attacks on Trump came from Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of nationalist tabloid Global Times.

“In a series of tweets and editorials over the weekend, Hu and his paper accused the US of hypocrisy,” the report states. “‘Mr President, don’t go hide behind the secret service,’ said Hu. ‘Go to talk to the demonstrators seriously. Negotiate with them, just like you urged Beijing to talk to Hong Kong rioters.’ In another tweet he said both protests defied the law, subverted order, and were destructive, but that Hong Kong’s were seen as justified by the US, while those in the US were unjust.”

You can read more here.

Concern is quickly growing on news the Trump administration has ordered U.S. Military Police to prepare to deploy to Minneapolis after four nights of protests. Federal law, specifically the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, makes it illegal in many cases to use the U.S. Military within the borders of the United States, especially for law enforcement.

Early Saturday morning the Associated Press reported “the Pentagon took the rare step of ordering the Army to put several active-duty U.S. military police units on the ready to deploy to Minneapolis, where the police killing of George Floyd sparked the widespread protests.”

Soldiers from Fort Bragg in North Carolina and Fort Drum in New York have been ordered to be ready to deploy within four hours if called, according to three people with direct knowledge of the orders. Soldiers in Fort Carson, in Colorado, and Fort Riley in Kansas have been told to be ready within 24 hours.

President Donald Trump in a 1 AM Friday morning tweet threatened to call up the National Guard and shoot “thugs” in Minneapolis if state and local officials did “bring the City under control.”

Trump also tweeted, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts.”

The President promised he would “assume control” and “get the job done right.”

Trump hours earlier, according to the AP, had “asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper for military options to help quell the unrest in Minneapolis after protests descended into looting and arson in some parts of the city.”

National security attorney Bradley Moss weighed in:

“If this is where the president is headed response-wise, it would represent a significant escalation and a determination that the various state and local authorities are not up to the task of responding to the growing unrest.” – me https://t.co/nMvNNLpb2I

— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) May 30, 2020

Online many are referring to the Posse Comitatus Act to support their belief Trump’s actions might be illegal.

Former Bush chief White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter, now a law professor, fired off such a warning on Friday before the AP’s report:

Hey Big Boy.
Read the Posse Comitatus Act and stay out of Minnesota.

18 U.S. Code § 1385. Use of Army and Air Force as posse comitatus https://t.co/LyBKbrdioT

— Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) May 29, 2020

The Washington Post’s Dan Lamothe apparently disagrees:

Yes, that’s right. Posse Comitatus applies until another law does. In this case, the Insurrection Act would allow it. Was used after the riots prompted by the Rodney King beating in 1992 to send a few thousand soldiers and Marines.

Touched on this here:https://t.co/ydMuyQttzf

— Dan Lamothe (@DanLamothe) May 30, 2020

ABC News adds: “Under the post-Civil War law known as Posse Comitatus, the U.S. active duty military is forbidden from carrying out law enforcement duties. That ban can only be waived if a President declares a national emergency.”