The Minnesota police officer filmed kneeling on the neck of a man who later died in custody has been charged with murder.

George Floyd’s death on Monday night in Minneapolis sparked violent protests across the US, pitting protesters against police in a number of major cities.

Video taken by a bystander showed the 46-year-old pleading that he could not breathe as a white officer, later named as Derek Chauvin, knelt on his neck.

Minnesota’s public safety commissioner announced Chauvin had been taken into custody on Friday evening and was later charged with third-degree murder.

Chauvin and four other officers involved in the incident were fired on earlier this week.

Earlier on Friday, Minnesota governor Tim Walz called for an end to the violent protests that have rocked Minneapolis and said the state’s National Guard would work to restore order following three nights of arson, looting and vandalism.

Walz also said he expected “swift” justice for the officers involved and promised a reckoning with the racial inequities behind the unrest triggered by Floyd’s death.

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