George Floyd protests: How did we get here?

A trailer smoldered behind a Target store near the Minneapolis Third Police Precinct on Friday morning, days after the death of George Floyd in police custody spurred violent protests in the city.

Only hours before, the precinct building itself was set on fire.

Small groups of protesters had begun to gather Friday in the area, shouting slogans including “I can’t breathe,” which Floyd told the Minneapolis police officer who had a knee on his neck in a bystander's video of the incident.

It's unclear whether the graphic video has alone sparked the outrage across the Twin Cities and the country, or if it's a culmination of anger from a string of high-profile incidents in which three black people were killed.

A timeline of what has transpired in recent weeks and days:

Residents flock to the neighborhood where Floyd was pinned down by police to protest his death.

Protesters clashed with police on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, and protests began to grow around the country. They chanted for justice in Memphis. They stopped freeway traffic in Los Angeles.

The number of protesters grew and tensions escalated on the third night of demonstrations.

Protests spring up across the country including Louisville — where Taylor was shot and killed in her home.

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is arrested, days after video circulated of him holding his knee to George Floyd's neck for at least eight minutes before Floyd died.

SOURCES maps4news.com/?HERE; USA TODAY photos by Trevor Hughes; AP photo; Google Street View; USA TODAY research

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: George Floyd protests: How did we get here?