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Thursday, 16 July 2020

'My knee might be a little scratched, but I'll survive': Bodycam footage shows George Floyd cops calmly talking while they knelt on the black man for almost nine minutes

New bodycam footage shows the cops charged in connection with the 'murder' of George Floyd calmly observing 'I think he's passing out' while the black man lost consciousness never to wake up again.
The officers can be heard making light of the struggle with Floyd and casually talking about his violent arrest while they were kneeling on top of him for almost nine minutes. 
One cop - thought to be rookie cop Thomas Lane - is even heard brushing off his own menial injuries obtained during the black man's arrest over a fake $20 bill.
'My knee might be a little scratched, but I'll survive,' he says, while Floyd is currently lying dying under the weight of the officers in the Minneapolis street. 
The shocking footage was made available to journalists and members of the public to view Wednesday by appointment but a judge has ruled it can only be viewed in the courthouse and news organizations cannot publish it.  
A coalition of media organizations filed a motion Monday calling for the immediate release of the videos.   
New bodycam footage shows the cops charged in connection with the 'murder' of George Floyd (pictured) calmly talking about his violent arrest as they knelt on him for almost nine minutes and saying 'I think he's passing out' as the black man lost consciousness and died
New bodycam footage shows the cops charged in connection with the 'murder' of George Floyd (pictured) calmly talking about his violent arrest as they knelt on him for almost nine minutes and saying 'I think he's passing out' as the black man lost consciousness and died
The footage from the bodycameras of Lane and J. Kueng has been filed as part of the criminal proceedings against the four cops. 
Derek Chauvin, who held his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes, has been charged with second-degree murder, while Lane, Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting.
The new footage captures a panicked and fearful Floyd pleading with the officers in the minutes leading up to his death, as he says he doesn't want to catch coronavirus again and insists he doesn't 'want to win'.
The video also confirms that the father's final words, which were not seen in a previously released transcript, were 'man, I can't breathe', reported CNN, which viewed the footage Wednesday.

In the video, Floyd is heard saying 'I'm not a bad guy!' as the two Minneapolis cops - who were first on the scene - tried to wrestle him into a squad car.
'I'm not that kind of guy,' Floyd says as he struggles against the officers. 
'I just had COVID, man, I don't want to go back to that.' 
When an onlooker pleads with Floyd to stop struggling, saying, 'You can't win!' Floyd replies, 'I don't want to win!'
A few minutes later, Floyd is face-down on the street and the cameras record his fading voice, still occasionally saying, 'I can't breathe' before he goes still.
Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao (left to right). A coalition of media outlets is seeking public access to body camera video recorded by the former officers charged in the death of George Floyd
Derek Chauvin, J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao (left to right). A coalition of media outlets is seeking public access to body camera video recorded by the former officers charged in the death of George Floyd
The footage shows Floyd appears distraught from the moment the officers ask him to step out of his vehicle. 
It shows the officers spoke to the grocery store clerk - where Floyd is alleged to have tried to pay with a counterfeit bill - for just 36 seconds before they arrived at the door of his car and demanded he exit the vehicle, CNN reported. 
When Floyd did not immediately display his hands, Lane pulled his gun and pointed it at him, yelling 'Put your f**king hands up right now!' 
Floyd sobs and pleads with the officers, telling them he had been shot before and, at one point, placing his head on the steering wheel.  
After around three minutes, Floyd - who continues to sob - is forcibly pulled from the car. 
Floyd's hands are soon handcuffed behind his back, and he grows more anxious, telling the officers that he's claustrophobic and pleading with them not to put him in the back of a squad car.
A struggle follows when Lane and Kueng try to put him in the squad car.  
Kueng is seen trying to push Floyd in one side of the car while Lane goes around to the other side to try to pull him in from the other, CNN reported.
Floyd is heard saying 'I can't breathe' for the first time, before falling out of the car on Lane's side.   
Thao and Chauvin appear on the footage and Chauvin, Kueng, and Lane struggle with Floyd to restrain him.  
Floyd loses a shoe in the altercation and what appears to be Chauvin's chest-mounted body camera winds up underneath the squad car.  
It is this point when Floyd ends up on the pavement with the officers holding him down in the position in which he would then stop breathing.  
Chauvin and Kueng each grip one of Floyd's handcuffed hands to hold them in position behind his back, with Kueng's knee appearing to press on Floyd's bottom or just below. Lane is at Floyd's feet.
In the footage Chauvin appears to shift his weight to increase the pressure on Floyd's neck, CNN reported, with the veteran cop moving his torso from an upright position into a curling down motion at one point. 
The officers sound clinical as the minutes tick by while they keep pinning Floyd to the ground. 
'I think he's passing out,' one officer says. 
'You guys all right, though?' someone asks. 
'Yeah - good so far,' says one. 
Another - apparently Lane - responds: 'My knee might be a little scratched, but I'll survive.' 
Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd said he couldn't breathe
Floyd, a black man who was handcuffed, died May 25 after Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, pressed his knee against Floyd's neck for nearly eight minutes as Floyd said he couldn't breathe
In the footage (which news organizations are not allowed to publish) Chauvin appears to shift his weight to increase the pressure on Floyd's neck, CNN reported
In the footage (which news organizations are not allowed to publish) Chauvin appears to shift his weight to increase the pressure on Floyd's neck, CNN reported
All four officers were fired the day after video of Floyd's death went viral, which set off protests that spread around the world and turned into a national reckoning on race in America
All four officers were fired the day after video of Floyd's death went viral, which set off protests that spread around the world and turned into a national reckoning on race in America
Attorney for George Floyd family announces lawsuit against MN cops
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Kueng reaches out with a free hand to pull a pebble from the police SUV's tire tread and toss it to the street.
Lane did not sound particularly worried the first time he asked Chauvin whether they should roll Floyd on his side and suggested that Floyd might be in delirium. 
People in the crowd can be heard expressing fear for Floyd's condition, asking whether he had a pulse and was breathing.
A couple of minutes later, Lane sounds a bit more concerned when he asks again about rolling Floyd onto his side. 
But the officers go quiet and show no apparent urgency as Kueng checks for a pulse and says he cannot find one.
Lane's camera shows him following an unresponsive, shirtless Floyd on a stretcher into an ambulance, where EMTs instructed him to perform CPR. 
The video shows Lane then performing constant chest compressions by hand with no visible results.
The new footage shows the officers making light of the struggle with Floyd (pictured) and seem unconcerned about his condition, despite the father-of-five repeatedly saying he couldn't breathe, desperate pleas from bystanders urging the officers to stop what they were doing and one of the cops vocalizing that he was 'passing out'
George Floyd
The new footage shows the officers making light of the struggle with Floyd (pictured) and seem unconcerned about his condition, despite the father-of-five repeatedly saying he couldn't breathe, desperate pleas from bystanders urging the officers to stop what they were doing and one of the cops vocalizing that he was 'passing out'
Police officers involved in George Floyd arrest appear in court
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The ambulance parks a few blocks away from the store for several minutes while Lane and the EMTs work on Floyd, rather than heading straight to the hospital, even though they all know that Floyd is in full cardiac arrest, as indicated by dispatcher audio.
The body camera videos and transcripts were filed in court last week by Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, as part of a request to have Lane's case dismissed. 
Gray said at the time that he wanted the videos to be made public, telling the Star Tribune that they would show the 'whole picture.' 
Gray said the bystander video shows just the last piece of what happened and 'is not fair.'
Gray's request highlighted portions of the body camera video that show Floyd 'actively resisting and acting erratic' with officers. 
It also noted Floyd's 'request' to be put on the ground. Gray also argued that Lane did not have a clear view of what Chauvin was doing. 
Judge Peter Cahill has declined to allow publication of the video but has not provided reasons for doing so. 
A coalition of news organizations is calling for them to be made public. 
Attorneys for Lane and Kueng have also called for the videos to be made public, saying they would provide a more complete picture of what happened when Floyd was taken into custody.  
Floyd died May 25 after white cop Chauvin pressed his knee against his neck for nearly nine minutes as Floyd said he couldn't breathe. 
His death sparked protests across America and around the world calling for an end to systemic racism and police brutality.  
His death also led to calls to abolish the Minneapolis Police Department and replace it with a new public safety department. 
A majority of City Council members support the move, saying the department has a long history and culture of brutality that has resisted change. 
A public hearing was planned later Wednesday on the proposal, which requires a change in the city's charter that could go to voters in November. 

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