On May 25, 2020, someone called 911 and reported that a man bought merchandise from Cup Foods at 3759 Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota with a counterfeit $20 bill. At 8:08p.m., Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) Officers Thomas Lane and J.A. Kueng arrived with their body worn cameras (BWCs) activated and running. The officers learned from store personnel that the man who passed the counterfeit $20 was parked in a car around the corner from the store on 38th Street.
BWC video obtained by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension shows that the officers approached the car, Lane on the driver's side and Kueng on the passenger side. Three people were in the car; George Floyd was in the driver's seat, a known adult male was in the passenger seat and a known adult female was sitting in the backseat. As Officer Lane began speaking with Mr. Floyd, he pulled his gun out and pointed it at Mr. Floyd's open window and directed Mr. Floyd to show his hands. When Mr. Floyd put his hands on the steering wheel, Lane put his gun back in its holster.
While Officer Kueng was speaking with the front seat passenger, Officer Lane ordered Mr. Floyd out of the car, put his hands on Mr. Floyd, and pulled him out of the car. Officer Lane handcuffed Mr. Floyd.
Once handcuffed, Mr. Floyd walked with Officer Lane to the sidewalk and sat on the ground at Officer Lane's direction. When Mr. Floyd sat down he said “thank you man” and was calm. In a conversation that lasted just under two minutes, Officer Lang asked Mr. Floyd for his name and identification. Officer Lane asked Mr. Floyd if he was "on anything" and noted there was foam at the edges of his mouth. Officer Lane explained that he was arresting Mr. Lloyd for passing counterfeit currency.
At 8:14 p.m., Officers Kueng and Lane stood Mr. Floyd up and attempted to walk Mr. Floyd to their squad car. As the officers tried to put Mr. Floyd in their squad car, Mr. Floyd stiffened up and fell to the ground. Mr. Floyd told the officers that he was not resisting but he did not want to get in the back seat and was claustrophobic.
MPD Officers Derek Chauvin (the defendant) and Tou Thao then arrived in a separate squad car.
The officers made several attempts to get Mr. Floyd in the backseat of their squad car by pushing him from the driver's side. As the officers were trying to force Mr. Floyd in the backseat, Mr. Floyd repeatedly said that he could not breathe. Mr. Floyd did not voluntarily sit in the backseat and the officers physically struggled to try to get him in the backseat.
The defendant went to the passenger side and tried to get Mr. Floyd into the car from that side and Lane and Kueng assisted.
The defendant pulled Mr. Floyd out of the passenger side of the squad car at 8:19:38 p.m. and Mr. Floyd went to the ground face down and still handcuffed. Kueng held Mr. Floyd's back and Lane held his legs. The defendant placed his left knee in the area of Mr. Floyd's head and neck. Mr. Floyd said, "I can't breathe" multiple times and repeatedly said, "Mama" and "please," as well. At one point, Mr. Floyd said “I’m about to die.” The defendant and the other two officers stayed in their positions.
One of the officers said,"You are talking fine" to Mr. Floyd as he continued to move back and forth. Lane asked, "should we roll him on his side?" and the defendant said, "No, staying put where we got him." Officer Lane said," I am worried about excited delirium or whatever." The defendant said, "That's why we have him on his stomach." The defendant and Kueng held Mr. Floyd’s right hand up. None of the three officers moved from their positions.
While Mr. Floyd showed slight movements, his movements and sounds decreased until at 8:24:24, Mr. Floyd stopped moving. At 8:25:31 the video appears to show Mr. Floyd ceasing to breathe or speak. Lane said, "want to roll him on his side." Kueng checked Mr. Floyd's right wrist for a pulse and said, "I couldn't find one." None of the officers moved from their positions.
At 8:27:24, the defendant removed his knee from Mr. Floyd's neck. An ambulance and emergency medical personnel arrived, the officers placed Mr. Floyd on a gurney, and the ambulance left the scene. Mr. Floyd was pronounced dead at Hennepin County Medical Center.
FROM A DOCTOR:
Stef
The next time some leftist moron brings up George Floyd's cries of "I cant breathe" and claimed death due to asphyxiation, please understand this point of human physiology straight from a physician.
If someone is choking or being choked, they are generally unable to move air effectively thru their trachea and hence thru their larynx giving them no ability to speak. Therefore, someone who is truly being choked to death will be silent or making gasping intelligible sounds and NOT speaking in full sentences saying I can't breathe.
If you truly can't breathe, you cannot speak.
Furthermore, symptoms of coronary ischemia and a heart attack causes chest pain and shortness of breath. So does congestive heart failure.
Patients suffering from congestive heart failure or with uncontrolled heart disease are often unable to exert themselves even to walk up a flight of stairs without being severely short of breath.
Add in drug abuse with fentanyl and methamphetamine and a history of likely long term hypertension which genetically is widespread in African Americans, plus a history of cocaine abuse, and it is no wonder he was short of breath.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-floyd-death-911-transcript-minneapolis-police/
https://www.health.state.mn.us/people/vitalrecords/physician-me/docs/capcodbook.pdf
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