Thursday, March 28, 2024

Police Bodycam Transcripts Detail Last Moments for George Floyd

Derek Chauvin kneeing George Floyd

*Transcripts of Minneapolis police body camera footage detail the last moments for George Floyd, who told officers more than 20 times that he could not breathe.

Several times he also stated that officers were killing him, New York Times reports. 

“Come on, man. Oh, oh. I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe,” Floyd said, according to one of the transcripts. “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”

Here’s more from cleveland.com:

The transcripts make clear that Floyd was trying to cooperate with police but was deathly afraid of them, at times telling them that he had had COVID-19 and was worried that he was going to die because he couldn’t breathe while in their custody. As one of the officers — Derek Chauvin — pressed a knee into his neck and held Floyd on the ground, he told Floyd that he must be OK because he was able to speak, saying that he was using up a lot of oxygen pleading for help.

Floyd died after Chauvin pressed his knee down onto neck until he lost consciousness. 

According to the transcript, Floyd repeated he couldn’t breathe and Chauvin told him to stop talking. When Floyd said, “You’re going to kill me, man,” Chauvin replied, “Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”

Chauvin now faces second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.

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George Floyd & daughter (via Ben Crump Law Firm)
George Floyd & daughter (via Ben Crump Law Firm)

Thomas Lane, the former Minneapolis police officer who held Floyd’s legs while Chauvin’s knee crushed the life out of him, is charged with aiding and abetting in the murder, along with fellow rookie officer J. Alexander Kueng and Tou Thao. All four officers were fired and all face 40 years in prison if convicted.

Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, has filed a motion to dismiss the charges against his client, and submitted the transcriptions to support the motion, USA Today reports. .

The filings include 82 pages of body camera transcripts and the 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane and investigators from Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

According to one transcript, Floyd said: “Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I’m dead.”

At one point during the interview, Lane admitted that he felt Floyd was having a medical emergency during his arrest. 

The transcripts highlight that while Floyd was being restrained on the ground with Chauvin’s knee pressed onto his neck,  Lane asked whether he should be turned over onto his side.

Chauvin replied, “No, he’s staying put where we got him.”

When Lane noted that Floyd might be in distress, Chauvin said “Well that’s why we got the ambulance coming.”

“OK, I suppose,” Lane replied, adding, “I think he’s passing out.”

The court papers seeking to dismiss the charges against Lane note that he was a new officer following the directive of a senior officer. His attorney also states that Lane believed Floyd was on drugs, “based on his behavior.”

Gray wrote in his filings, “Lane listened to FTO Chauvin and thought it made sense because there are times when a person who is OD’ing or passed out one minute but then comes back really aggressive.”

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