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New Transcripts Detail Last Moments for George Floyd New Transcripts Detail Last Moments for George Floyd
(about 3 hours later)
George Floyd told officers more than 20 times that he could not breathe, according to newly released transcripts of Minneapolis police body camera footage documenting the last minutes of his life. George Floyd’s dying moments have played on an endless loop, horrifying the world and prompting a spasm of street protests, but newly released evidence reveals an even more desperate scene than previously known in the moments before an officer pressed his knee into Mr. Floyd’s neck.
Several times, too, he exclaimed that officers were killing him. Mr. Floyd uttered “I can’t breathe” not a handful of times, as previous videotapes showed, but more than 20 times in all. He cried out not just for his dead mother but for his children too. Before his final breaths, Mr. Floyd gasped: “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me.”
“Come on, man. Oh, oh. I cannot breathe. I cannot breathe,” Mr. Floyd said, according to one of the transcripts. “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.” As Mr. Floyd shouted for his life, an officer yelled back at him to “stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”
The transcripts offer one of the most thorough and dramatic accounts yet of the moments before Mr. Floyd’s death, which set off a national movement about police use of force. They were filed in state court in Minneapolis on Tuesday as part of an effort by a former officer, Thomas Lane, 37, to have charges that he aided and abetted Mr. Floyd’s murder thrown out by a judge. The chilling transcripts of Minneapolis police body camera footage, made public on Wednesday, were filed in state court as part of an effort by one of the officers on the scene, Thomas Lane, 37, to have charges that he aided and abetted Mr. Floyd’s murder thrown out by a judge.
Mr. Floyd died after an officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, pressed his knee down onto Mr. Floyd’s neck until he was no longer moving. Mr. Floyd, 46, died after another officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, pressed his knee down onto Mr. Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes until he was no longer moving.
Mr. Chauvin, who was on the force for 19 years, faces second-degree murder and manslaughter charges in Mr. Floyd’s death and up to 40 years in prison if he is convicted. Mr. Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, who were both rookie officers, and Tou Thao, 34, also face 40 years in prison if convicted on charges of aiding and abetting Mr. Floyd’s murder. All four officers were fired. Mr. Chauvin, who was on the force for 19 years, faces second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges in Mr. Floyd’s death and up to 40 years in prison if he is convicted. Mr. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, 26, who were both rookie officers, and Tou Thao, 34, also face 40 years in prison if convicted on charges of aiding and abetting Mr. Floyd’s murder. All four officers were fired.
The filings made in court this week include 82 pages of body camera transcripts and the 60-page transcript of an interview with Mr. Lane, his lawyer alongside him, by investigators from Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Even before he was on the ground, Mr. Floyd said he was in physical distress, telling officers who were trying to get him into a squad car that he was claustrophobic and could not breathe.
At one point, according to one transcript, he said: “Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I’m dead.”
At another point, Mr. Chauvin asked if Mr. Floyd was high on something; Mr. Lane said he assumed so, and Mr. Kueng said they had found a pipe on him. One autopsy report found traces of illegal drugs in Mr. Floyd’s body.
“Relax,” Mr. Thao told Mr. Floyd.
“I can’t breathe,” Mr. Floyd said.
“You’re fine,” Mr. Kueng replied. “You’re talking fine.”
“Deep breath,” Mr. Lane added.
The new court filings include 82 pages of body camera transcripts as well as the 60-page transcript of Mr. Lane’s interview with investigators from Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
In that interview, when he was asked whether he felt at the time that Mr. Floyd was having a medical emergency, Mr. Lane replied, “Yeah, I felt maybe that something was going on.”In that interview, when he was asked whether he felt at the time that Mr. Floyd was having a medical emergency, Mr. Lane replied, “Yeah, I felt maybe that something was going on.”
At the end of the interview, though, Mr. Lane’s lawyer, Earl Gray, objected when an investigator asked Mr. Lane whether he felt that either he or Mr. Chauvin had contributed to Mr. Floyd’s death.At the end of the interview, though, Mr. Lane’s lawyer, Earl Gray, objected when an investigator asked Mr. Lane whether he felt that either he or Mr. Chauvin had contributed to Mr. Floyd’s death.
“You’re not going to answer that,” Mr. Gray said. Mr. Lane did not answer the question.“You’re not going to answer that,” Mr. Gray said. Mr. Lane did not answer the question.
The filings also include what Mr. Gray described as pictures from inside the car Mr. Floyd was sitting in when Mr. Lane first approached him. Officers had been called after a nearby store employee reported that Mr. Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill. According to Mr. Gray, the pictures show two crumpled counterfeit $20 bills that were found lodged between the center console and the passenger’s seat. Much of what had been known about Mr. Floyd’s final moments had come from bystander video, surveillance footage and probable cause statements released by prosecutors when they filed charges against the officers. But the body camera transcripts, and Mr. Lane’s interview with investigators, provide more details about Mr. Floyd’s exchange with officers, and how vociferously and persistently he had pleaded with them that he was having a medical emergency.
Even before he was on the ground, Mr. Floyd said he was in physical distress, telling officers who were trying to get him into a squad car that he was claustrophobic and could not breathe. The filings include what Mr. Gray described as pictures from inside the car Mr. Floyd was sitting in when Mr. Lane first approached him. Officers had been called after a nearby store employee reported that Mr. Floyd had passed a counterfeit $20 bill. The pictures show two crumpled $20 bills that Mr. Gray said were counterfeit and that he said were found lodged between the center console and the passenger’s seat.
At one point, according to one transcript, he said: “Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I’m dead.” The filings also indicate that an ambulance, called early in the encounter, did not respond right away and initially went to the wrong spot.
According to the transcripts, Mr. Lane called for an ambulance after Mr. Floyd’s mouth started bleeding. Mr. Lane told investigators it was likely when Mr. Floyd banged his face on the glass inside of the squad car.
Mr. Lane then upgraded that ambulance request, from a less-serious “code 2” to a more serious “code 3,” after Mr. Floyd had repeatedly said he could not breathe and the officers discussed whether he could be high on drugs.
The transcripts zero in on the most critical moments of Mr. Floyd’s restraint by officers.The transcripts zero in on the most critical moments of Mr. Floyd’s restraint by officers.
After Mr. Floyd says that the officers are going to kill him, Mr. Chauvin says, “Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.” After Mr. Floyd says that the officers were going to kill him, Mr. Chauvin said, according to one of the transcripts, “Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”
While Mr. Floyd was being restrained on the ground, on his stomach, with Mr. Chauvin’s knee pressed onto his neck, Mr. Lane asked whether Mr. Floyd should be turned over onto his side. While Mr. Floyd was being restrained on the ground, on his stomach, with Mr. Chauvin’s knee pressed onto his neck, Mr. Lane asked whether Mr. Floyd should be turned onto his side.
Mr. Chauvin said, “No, he’s staying put where we got him.”Mr. Chauvin said, “No, he’s staying put where we got him.”
Mr. Lane then said he was worried Mr. Floyd might be having a medical emergency.Mr. Lane then said he was worried Mr. Floyd might be having a medical emergency.
“Well that’s why we got the ambulance coming,” Mr. Chauvin responded, according to one of the transcripts.“Well that’s why we got the ambulance coming,” Mr. Chauvin responded, according to one of the transcripts.
“OK, I suppose,” Mr. Lane replied, adding soon after, “I think he’s passing out.”“OK, I suppose,” Mr. Lane replied, adding soon after, “I think he’s passing out.”
At that moment, a bystander shouted: “He’s not even breathing right now, bro, you think that’s cool? You think that’s cool, right?” At that moment, a bystander shouted: “He’s not even breathing right now, bro, you think that’s cool? You think that’s cool, right?” Other onlookers repeatedly asked if Mr. Floyd had a pulse.
“You got one?” Mr. Lane asked. “I can’t find one,” Mr. Kueng said. “Huh?” Mr. Chauvin replied. Mr. Kueng tried again, and again said he could not find a pulse.
More than two minutes then went by, according to timestamps on the transcript of Mr. Kueng’s body camera footage. Still, Mr. Chauvin kept his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck, videos show.
After the ambulance arrived, Mr. Lane rode with Mr. Floyd to a hospital alongside ambulance workers and performed chest compressions on him. One worker told Mr. Lane the ambulance waited to respond because it was called in as a “code 2 mouth injury.”
”And then as we’re sitting here, I’m like, ‘Now it says code 3, I just don’t understand,’” the worker said, explaining what had happened. “And then we figured out where it was so, and then one of your officers was like, ‘Hey, hey ding-dongs, you’re at the wrong spot.’”
The filings were the latest effort by Mr. Lane, who held Mr. Floyd’s legs while he was on the ground, to argue that he does not bear the responsibility for Mr. Floyd’s death that prosecutors say he does.The filings were the latest effort by Mr. Lane, who held Mr. Floyd’s legs while he was on the ground, to argue that he does not bear the responsibility for Mr. Floyd’s death that prosecutors say he does.
In court papers asking the judge to dismiss the charges against Mr. Lane, Mr. Gray argues that Mr. Lane, as a new officer, was taking his cues from Mr. Chauvin, a senior officer who served as a field training officer, or F.T.O., for some rookies. He also states that Mr. Lane believed that Mr. Floyd was on drugs, “based on his behavior.” At Mr. Lane’s first court appearance a month ago, his lawyer, Mr. Gray, sought to emphasize Mr. Chauvin’s status as a senior officer who helped train rookies, and that the fateful encounter with Mr. Floyd had occurred on Mr. Lane’s fourth day on the force.
After Mr. Chauvin refused to turn Mr. Floyd onto his side, Mr. 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.” “They’re required to call him ‘Sir,’” Mr. Gray said in court about Mr. Chauvin, who served as a field training officer, or F.T.O. “He has 20 years’ experience. What is my client supposed to do but to follow what the training officer said? Is that aiding and abetting a crime?”
Matt Furber contributed reporting from Minneapolis. In the court papers filed this week where he asks the judge to dismiss the charges against Mr. Lane, Mr. Gray argued that Mr. Lane, as a new officer, was taking his cues from Mr. Chauvin. He also stated that Mr. Lane believed that Mr. Floyd was on drugs “based on his behavior.”
After Mr. Chauvin refused to turn Mr. Floyd onto his side, Mr. Gray wrote in his filings, “Lane listened to F.T.O. 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.”
John Eligon and Matt Furber contributed reporting.