Minneapolis officer’s bodycam footage shows emotional crowd during George Floyd’s arrest
Newly released bodycam footage from one of the officers at the scene of George Floyd’s arrest, shows an emotional crowd pleading with police to get off him in the moments leading up to his death.
The footage, that was made available by the Minneapolis Police Department on Thursday, is from the bodycam of Tou Thao, one of the four officers fired after Mr Floyd’s death on 25 May, according to HuffPost.
Mr Floyd died after his neck was knelt on for more than eight minutes by Derek Chauvin, who at the time was a Minneapolis police officer but has now been charged with with second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Mr Thao, Thomas Lane and J Kueng, the three other officers at the scene of his arrest, have also been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.
In the bodycam footage a crowd of onlookers pleaded with Mr Thao to help Mr Floyd, as he attempted to get them to leave the scene of the arrest.
As Mr Floyd shouted “I can’t breathe” at least 20 times, multiple onlookers started to film the incident and one man shouted at Mr Thao: “You’re just gonna let him keep his hand on his neck like that? You’re a b**** bro. Thao you’re a b**** bro.”
The man then pleaded with the officer to help Mr Floyd, and asked: “You gonna let him kill that man in front of you, bro?” and added: “He’s not even f*****g moving right now.”
The officer then responded: “This is why you don’t do drugs, kids,” as he ordered the crowd to stay on the pavement and away from Mr Floyd.
A woman, who identified herself as a Minneapolis firefighter, then asked the officer: “Let me see a pulse,” but Mr Thao shouted at her to “back off!”
In response, another man in the crowd then pleaded with Mr Thao to “check his pulse,” and added: “You bogus, bro. ‘Don’t do drugs,’ bro?...You call what he’s doing OK?”
As the crowd became more emotional, the officer pushed a man back onto the pavement who had attempted to get closer to Mr Floyd, as a woman shouted: “What the f*** are you doing?” and added: “He’s dying.”
Prosecutors submitted Mr Thao’s bodycam footage earlier in the week, while on Monday Mr Lane and Mr Keung’s videos were released on the order of Hennepin County District Court Judge Peter Cahill.
The footage from the officer’s bodycams showed Mr Floyd pleading with police as they put him in their vehicle shortly before he died.
Mr Floyd’s death sparked months of Black Lives Matter protests, that are still taking place today, in every state in the US in opposition to police brutality against African Americans.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office is prosecuting the case, has asked that all four officers are tried at the same time. Their next court appearance is scheduled for 11 September.
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