Leaked body camera footage has sparked a debate over whether the narrative surrounding George Floyd’s Memorial Day death is accurate, with some right-wingers claiming Floyd’s behavior before he was restrained proves officers were justified in using what turned out to be deadly force on him.
The footage was taken from cameras worn by former Minneapolis Police officers Alex Kueng and Thomas Lane. The Daily Mail obtained the video and published part of it on Monday.
In the tape, Floyd became distressed after Lane pointed a gun at his head and shouted commands as he sat in the driver’s seat of his vehicle. Floyd did not try to run away but he did not immediately follow the officers’ commands.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,’ Floyd said at one point. “Goddang man. Man, I got shot the same way, Mr. officer, before.”
Floyd also begged them not to shoot him and explained he recently lost his mother.
“I’ll look at you eye-to-eye. Please don’t shoot me man,” Floyd said through tears. “I just lost my mom, man.”
Despite Floyd’s pleas, Lane and Kueng yelled orders and obscenities throughout the encounter. He is eventually ordered out of the car and cuffed. Lane asked Floyd’s two passengers about his behavior.
“Why’s he being all squirrelly and not showing us his hands and just being all weird like that?” Lane asked.
Shawanda Hill, who was in the back seat and used to date Floyd, told Lane he’d been shot before and implied he suffered from mental illness.
“Is he drunk or something?” Lane asked.
“No, he’s got a thing going on about the police,” Hill replied.
Floyd was walked to a squad car but when the officers tried to make him get in, he resisted.
“Please man. Don’t leave me by myself man, please. I’m just claustrophobic,” he said.
“Well you’re still going in the car,’ Lane told him.
“Y’all, I am going to die in here,” Floyd pleaded. “I’m going to die, man. I just had COVID, man. I don’t want to go back to that.”
The footage ended with Floyd’s highly publicized death after more than eight minutes under the knee of Derek Chauvin. Chauvin, Lane, Kueng and Tou Thao, another MPD officer on the scene, were all fired the day after Floyd’s death. Chauvin is facing a second-degree murder charge and the rest of the officers were charged with aiding and abetting.
The video was filed as evidence by Lane’s attorney to support a motion to dismiss charges against his client, reported CNN. It was available for in-person viewing on a limited basis by presiding Judge Peter Cahill last month, but news organizations were not allowed to publish it. The tapes sparked heated discussion on social media, with many comments coming from conservatives who seemed to be saying the video proved Floyd was responsible for his own death.
Others were in direct opposition to that point of view.
“Oh, are we talking about George Floyd again? He was on drugs, and died with weed, Meth, and fentanyl in his system – FACT. And he *still* didn’t deserve to die with that officer’s knee on his neck,” wrote one person. “EVERYONE came to that conclusion the first time around.”
Another added, “All the folks posting about how “George Floyd was no saint and would have lived if he had done what the cops told him to” have a REALLY strong “she deserved to be raped because she was wearing a short skirt” vibe going..”
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents Floyd’s family, believes the videos prove the officers acted inappropriately.
“The police officers approached him with guns drawn, simply because he was a Black man. As this video shows, he never posed any threat,” Crump said in a statement. “The officers’ contradictions continue to build. If not for the videos, the world might never have known about the wrongs committed against George Floyd.”
Nothing but a thug that died from an overdose and not a knee to the neck. Just another piece of shit that no one has to worry about ever again. BLM are nothing but terrorist and all money given to them and the Floyd family should be confiscated to rebuild the businesses that been destroyed and to remove all the graffiti off all three public streets around the county.
Nobody says he deserved to die, but you were the ones calling it racism while it clearly wasn’t.
You said it had nothing to do with drugs, while it did and everyone who knows about fentanyl knows how dangerous it is. He was already in the police car complaining about claustofobua while driving a car with the windows closed.
You started riots and looting on false grounds, innocent LAW ABIDING CITIZENS have died because of you. You made honest hard working cops depressed even drove some to suicide. Think about that before you pretend you are oppressed.
99% of these incidents are a result of not complying. I agree that kneeling on his neck while in handcuffs for 9 minutes is ridiculous.
But what you dumb idiots don’t realize is the money was never fake so the fact of it all is he was innocent busy ofcourse y’all will still find a reason to hate a black man in this country matter what.
I don’t care because the police get paid to be mental health providers. What’s in their playbook on handling these issues? This does not excuse the fact that Chauvin had his knee on this mans neck and enjoyed chocking the life out of him while three other cops stood by and allowed him to do so. When Floyd said, “I can’t breath,” that was the signal to get off his neck, back and legs and turn him over and give him aid until the paramedics got there. Unfortunately, he was already dead upon their arrival. If the police and Repugnants didn’t want a riot, then Chauvin should have taken his knee off Floyd’s neck. You say it’s the Democrats and the media’s fault that the riots occurred. I say it was the police fault because they get paid to handle people who are having mental breaks, drug addiction episodes, and crisis in general. All this proves is that police are not up to the task of doing this type of work and some of the funding designated for this type of intervention should go towards hiring those who specialize in this type of social work. Defund the police (transfer the portion of this funding to those who are capable of doing this work).
This video proves nothing but the fact that Floyd expresses the fact that he’s claustrophobic and that he has a phobia against being locked in small confined spaces. He pleads with the cops for help and support due to his phobia. He asks them to allow him to count to three so he can prepare himself mentally even as he ask the cops not to leave him by himself just in case he panics. Why wouldn’t they allow him to count? It would have given him mental control. The other cop goes to the other side to drag him in, he pushes himself and ends up falling out the car. He begs to just let him lay down on the ground. Where’s the rest showing what happened next to warrant the 3 officers to knee his neck, sit on his back and legs while the fourth cop stood idly by? I still don’t see anything that warranted his murder. Which officer was supposed to be acting as the counselor or social worker to detect a crisis in this man?
Brian stfu
He had a knee on his neck. Are you all crazy, stupid or dumb. Close your eyes stop thinking it was a black man think about if it was your child your cousin your nephew or your brother how would you feel.
The autopsy proved he died from the knee to the neck, you driveling moron. Ffs, this country is infested with idiots.
Put him in the back seat and close the door. Don’t then take him back out the car and kneel on his neck for 8 plus minutes.
The inflammatory comments show that America deserves what it got meaning covid.
@CW, you are the biggest black insecure crybaby idiot, go live you sad pathetic life full of lies..
Some of you are just dumb fucks
If he was high / drink / Or on pcp he didn’t Deserve to die