‘I can’t breathe’: Video shows Minneapolis cop with knee on neck of motionless, moaning man who later died
Аn eyewitness took a video showing a Minneapolis police officer keeping his knee on the neck of a motionless, moaning man at the foot of a squad car.
The man later died.
The shocking video was taken on Monday. The following day, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced that four officers involved in the tragic scene are now ‘former employees’, as CBS News reports. Mayor Jacob Frey tweeted:
Four responding MPD officers involved in the death of George Floyd have been terminated.
This is the right call.
— Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) May 26, 2020
According to a police statement, the officers were responding to a ‘forgery in progress’.
The statement said:
“Officers were advised that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence. Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance.”
The victim, later identified as George Floyd, died soon after.
No weapons were used during the incident, the statement claims.
At a Tuesday press conference, Chief Medaria Arradondo said that due to the possible civil rights violation, the investigation into the case will be led by the FBI. Arradondo also assured that two of the officers involved have been ‘relieved of duty status’.
George Floyd’s family allegedly had hired the prominent civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump. The attorney claimed:
“We all watched the horrific death of George Floyd on video as witnesses begged the police officer to take him into the police car and get off his neck. This abusive, excessive and inhumane use of force cost the life of a man who was being detained by the police for questioning about a non-violent charge.”
The disturbing video was captured by the onlooker Darnella Frazier. It begins with the unarmed man, an African-American, who is groaning and repeatedly saying: “I can’t breathe!” to the white officer who has his knee on the man’s neck.
The man can be also heard saying:
“Please, I can’t breathe! My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. … (I need) water or something. Please. Please. I can’t breathe, officer. … I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe.”
Then, another eyewitness points out to the man, as his nose starts bleeding. Furthermore, a male onlooker says:
“That’s bulls**t, Bro. You’re stopping his breathing right there, Bro. Get him off the ground, Bro. You’re being a bum right now.”
According to the onlooker, the officer is ‘enjoying’ torturing the man. He continues:
“You could have put him in the car by now. He’s not resisting arrest or nothing. You’re enjoying it. Look at you. Your body language — you bum. You know that’s bogus right now.”
One of the witnesses repeatedly urges the officers to check the man’s pulse, saying: “He’s not responsive right now. He’s not moving.”
Later, an ambulance arrives and takes the man away. At the time, his body is already motionless. People were shouting at the officers, that they have actually killed him.
Darnella Frazier, who took the extremely graphic video and posted it on Facebook, wrote:
“They killed him right in front of cup foods over south on 38th and Chicago!! No type of sympathy 💔💔
#POLICEBRUTALITY.”
According to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, the man’s death was ‘simply awful’, and ‘wrong at every level’. At the Tuesday press conference, he said:
“For the better part of the night I’ve been trying to find the words to describe what happened and all I keep coming back to is that he should not have died. What we saw was horrible, completely and utterly messed up. This man’s life matters, he matters. He was someone’s son, someone’s family member, someone’s friend. He was a human being and his life mattered.”
