What did the Hennepin County Medical Examiner list as cause and manner of death for George Floyd on April 20 2020?

1. What the county report explicitly stated

The official Hennepin County autopsy, performed by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker, records the immediate cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest that occurred while George Floyd was being restrained; the written formulation is “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression” ^{[1] [4]}. The office publicly pronounced the manner of death “homicide,” a medical classification that the report explicitly noted is not itself a legal finding of criminal culpability ^{[5] [3]}.

2. What “cardiopulmonary arrest” and “homicide” mean in this context

The term cardiopulmonary arrest describes the heart and breathing stopping; the county tied that arrest directly to the circumstances of restraint and neck compression rather than listing only disease or intoxication as the proximate cause ^{[1] [2]}. The report’s homicide designation indicates the death resulted from another person’s actions, not that prosecutors had proven a criminal charge — the report itself states the manner is a medical determination, not a legal one ^{[5] [3]}.

3. Contributing conditions the county report listed

Alongside its primary cause, the Hennepin report listed “other significant conditions” including arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, fentanyl intoxication, and recent methamphetamine use as contributors mentioned in the autopsy text ^{[2] [3]}. Multiple outlets summarizing the autopsy emphasize the county report did not say drugs alone caused the death — it said Floyd experienced cardiopulmonary arrest while restrained by officers ^{[6] [7]}.

4. How the county finding compared with the family’s independent autopsy

Floyd’s family commissioned a separate private autopsy whose pathologists concluded he died from mechanical asphyxia (suffocation) due to sustained pressure; that report framed asphyxia as the cause of death, differing from the county’s cardiopulmonary arrest formulation though both labeled the deaths homicides ^{[2] [8]}. Media coverage highlighted this divergence: the county focused on arrest complicating restraint plus contributing medical/drug conditions, while the family’s experts emphasized suffocation from force ^{[2] [3]}.

5. Why the differences matter and how they were used politically

The inclusion of fentanyl and heart disease in the Hennepin report became a focal point for competing narratives. Critics of the policing actions pointed to the homicide ruling and the centrality of restraint; others seized on the drug and heart-disease language to argue for contributory causes. Independent fact-checking and later reporting stressed that the county did not say drugs alone caused Floyd’s death and that two autopsies nonetheless both reached “homicide” as the manner ^{[6] [7]}.

6. Limitations in public interpretation and reporting

The autopsy language — medical terms like “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating…” and the label “homicide” — invites misunderstanding when translated into legal or political claims. The medical examiner’s office cautioned that “homicide” is not a legal finding of intent or guilt; available sources do not provide a legal adjudication based on the autopsy alone ^[5]. Reporting varied in emphasis; some summaries foregrounded the county’s contributing-condition list, others stressed the family autopsy’s asphyxia conclusion, and both were widely circulated ^{[3] [8]}.

7. Bottom line for readers

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner listed the immediate cause of death as cardiopulmonary arrest “complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression” and designated the manner as homicide; the report also noted heart disease and the presence of fentanyl and methamphetamine as contributing factors ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Independent reporting and a separate family-commissioned autopsy agreed on homicide but differed on the proximate mechanism — mechanical asphyxia in the private report versus cardiopulmonary arrest complicating restraint in the county report — and these differences shaped competing public narratives ^{[2] [8]}.