According to witness testimony at the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis officer accused of killing George Floyd, a police video revealed that after the ambulance took Floyd away, the officer had defended himself to a bystander by saying that the African-American man was a ‘sizeable guy’ and ‘probably on something’.
According to AP, the clip was part of a mountain of footage that showed how Floyd’s alleged attempt to pass a phoney $20 bill at a neighbourhood market last May escalated into tragedy. The video showed officers pulling Floyd from his SUV at gunpoint, struggling to push him into a squad car as he writhed and screamed that he was claustrophobic, and then putting him on the pavement.
Further, the video also showed Officer Thomas Lane confronting Floyd in his SUV, drawing his gun and demanding that he shows his hands. Floyd, on the other hand, could be heard yelling, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ and ‘I got shot before”. Seemingly crying, he begged repeatedly, ‘Please don’t shoot me, man.’
As per reports, the defence argued that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s death was not caused by the officer’s knee, but his illegal drug use, heart disease.
High blood pressure and the adrenaline flowing through his body. The 45-yeard-old officer is charged with murder and manslaughter, accused of killing the 46-year-old Floyd by kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, as he lay face-down in handcuffs. The most serious charge against the now-fired officer carries up to 40 years in prison.
