Detectives: Chauvin should have removed his knee from Floyd's neck
The blue wall that protects white cops may be crumbling as evidenced by recent events in the Minneapolis trial of Derrick Chauvin.
One former and one current Minneapolis police detective testified last week that Derrick Chauvin should have taken his knee from George Floyd’s neck, allowing him, to breathe.
Instead, Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, holding it there for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, and killing him. This is far longer than the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that originally reported.
Darnella Frazer, 17, filmed Floyd’s arrest and his death at the hands of police and uploaded the video on Facebook. The post set off demonstrations worldwide. making Floyd a Christ-like figure.
Frazier said she should have done more.
“It’s been nights I stayed up crying apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life,” Frazier said tearfully.
Witnesses called the cops on the officers who surrounded and arrested Floyd, but they also feared they, too, could become victims of police brutality.
Donald Williams, a mixed martial artist, said he believed that he had witnessed a murder. “I did call the police on the police because I believed I witnessed a murder,” Williams said.
Genevieve Hansen, a Minneapolis firefighter who filmed the incident while off duty, broke down in tears when she testified, saying she was forbidden by the police to help Floyd.
“There was a man being killed,” Hansen said. "I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities,”
An eight-year-old girl said Floyd had stopped breathing. “I was sad and kind of mad,” she said. Given her age, the youngest witness was not identified by name.
When Hennepin Country paramedics rushed to resuscitate Floyd, one of them thought he was already dead.
Floyd was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center. The medical examiner ruled that Floyd, 46, died from cardiopulmonary arrest, complicated by a law enforcement officer's subdual restraint and neck compression.
The medical examiner reported that Floyd’s post-mortem tests showed recent fentanyl intoxication and methamphetamine use. The medical examiner ruled Floyd's death a homicide.
The defense has argued Floyd likely died from a drug overdose.
Chauvin, 45, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. Floyd died on May 25, 2020. Chauvin has pled not guilty to the charges.
Floyd’s last day started out as a normal day. He was speaking and joking around with other customers in Cup Foods, but his day quickly went sideways when Floyd attempted to buy a pack of cigarettes with a counterfeit twenty dollar bill.
Cup Foods clerk, Christopher Martin, testified that Floyd handed him a fake twenty.
At the store manager's direction, the police were called to the store.
Prosecuting attorney Jerry Blackwell said police should have given Floyd a ticket for the infraction, instead of responding in a way that resulted in his death.
On day four of witness testimony, Sgt. David Ploeger, who is Chauvin's superior, testified that the officers should have stopped holding Floyd down after he became stopped resisting.
Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-serving officer on the Minneapolis Police Department, testified Chauvin violated department policy by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as he lay handcuffed and lay face down on the street.
Chauvin has 22 complaints filed against him, but he been disciplined only once.
On Monday, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arrandondo
is scheduled to testify for the prosecution.
