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[Editor's note: This is a follow-on to the story George Floyd Dead - Officers Fired and Charged - Discuss it Here that we ran on June 2, 2020. With 385 comments, it was the 5th-most-discussed story in the history of SoylentNews. All four of the officers involved were fired from the police force and are facing charges for the death.
New body-cam footage has come to light, exclusively on DailyMail.com. The two videos there fill in gaps from the previously-released footage.
In light of the interest when we first ran the story, the continuing "Black Lives Matter" protests, and the information this brings to light, I have decided to run this story.
NOTE: Each news organization has their own "take" on the killing. This coverage from DailyMail.com is no exception; read it with a heaping helping of the proverbial "grain of salt". It has been excerpted here without elision so as to not add any additional "spin".
WARNING: Please be aware the video content is disturbing; viewer discretion is advised. --martyb]
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1234
Police Bodycam Footage Shows George Floyd Arrest In Detail:
WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT. DailyMail.com has obtained video from the body cameras of two officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd that ultimately led to his death on May 25 in Minneapolis.
[...] Bodycam footage from two cops accused in the murder of George Floyd is revealed exclusively by DailyMail.com today — and it shows a rookie officer terrifying Floyd by pointing a handgun at his head and another callously picking a pebble from the squad car tire just inches from the dying man and seconds before he draws his last breath.
The tapes show in minute detail how a very distressed Floyd begs 'Mr. Officer, please don't shoot me. Please man,' before the struggle that ended with his death on May 25.
It also shows how belligerent cops cursed at and manhandled the sobbing suspect, ignoring his pleas for compassion.
Floyd resisted as the cops tried to force him into the back of the car, telling them he suffers from claustrophobia and anxiety and how Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, leading to his death, ignoring Floyd's repeated cries of 'I can't breathe.'
Floyd is even heard predicting his own death. 'I'll probably just die this way,' he says.
Transcripts from the videos were released in mid-July but a judge in Minneapolis had ruled the video could only be viewed in the courthouse, meaning few people have had the chance to watch the powerful images.
But the footage has now been leaked to DailyMail.com so the world can finally see the tragedy of Floyd's last minutes as the cops were mindless of Floyd's anguish.
The footage includes more than 18 minutes from Officer Alex Kueng's bodycam and 10 minutes from Officer Thomas Lane. They were the first two cops to arrive on the scene after a complaint that Floyd had attempted to pass a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes at Cup Foods, a store in the Powderhorn Park section of Minneapolis.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by DannyB on Wednesday August 05 2020, @03:43PM (6 children)
<no-sarcasm>
I agree videos should not be used for propaganda.
However, these videos do serve a purpose because they tell the story, or parts of the story, in a way that is different from, and possibly more believable than eyewitness accounts.
The reason that the video has a warning is so that you can avoid watching it if you are bothered by such videos. That is the stated reason for the warning, and I believe the sincere and actual reason for such a warning.
I have seen the video, and worse videos, and do not have PTSD as a result.
</no-sarcasm>
Furthermore, I have not yet been involuntarily committed to an institution for Java programmers, so far as I am able to determine.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @05:46PM
I have not watched the video and probably will not. I don't feel the need to and I sympathize with nostyle's position. However, that is my personal choice and I don't think my own feelings should outweigh the need for facts to be made public.
This event has had nation-wide, if not world-wide, impact. It is approaching the same category in historical significance as the assassination of JFK or similar murders/deaths that have been broadcast on TV.
Will this footage being made public make it harder to find an impartial jury for the trial of the cops? Yes, but probably not impossible. There are plenty of people who won't watch it. All that said, I would have preferred it to be kept under wraps until after the trials are over. There's already enough footage of the event out there to have a good idea of what happened. Though, now that this is out, there's no need to try to suppress it.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by nostyle on Wednesday August 05 2020, @06:10PM (4 children)
Just because you do not notice the damage to your psyche does not mean you aren't being trained to shrug off atrocity.
...and no I don't watch the videos, but there are many unthinking web-surfers who do not sense the danger.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @06:27PM
I think it's important for people to see because it shows what pigs will do to anybody, not just half-retarded Blackards.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 05 2020, @07:58PM (2 children)
<no-sarcasm>
I do not make a habit of watching such videos.
There are videos on YouTube of serious police misconduct, as well as fully justified police conduct that resulted in fatality.
There is some small value in seeing that the misconduct is far more widely spread than one may realize. I certainly did not realize it. I only got interested after Ferguson Missouri. I wondered why we had not seemed to learn anything since Rodney King, which was plenty of time to learn. And to people complaining about riots I would say maybe they should have, and we all should have held our police more accountable for unjustifiable actions. And Rodney King was unjustifiable. Maybe now we will finally hold police more accountable. Get them better trained. Weed out people who are not suitable for the job. Clue: the high school bully, despite not having any talent, marketable skills or job prospects, does not automatically mean you should take pity and hire him as a police officer.
Another clue is the use of language. When police use the word "citizens", I applaud them. Whey they use the word "civilians", I shriek back in horror. They say this because they see themselves as some kind of occupation army against an insurgent civilian population.
Oh, and maybe not all military people are suitable for police work. Military service should not be an automatic qualifier. The jobs are different.
There are bad things in the world. Some bad videos inform us of it better. It becomes real. In all its horror.
The lack of videos is probably why nothing was done from Rodney King until now. So maybe we need a reasonable dose of these videos -- because they are horrifying. Hiding from the reality while we go to our malls, is how we got here.
</no-sarcasm>
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Booga1 on Wednesday August 05 2020, @09:30PM (1 child)
We had video of the Rodney King incident. It was a perfect example of police brutality that should have resulted in more change than the aftermath actually produced. Part of that was due to how unsympathetic Rodney King was as a victim.
Many, many, many times people see horrible things done to someone who is a horrible person and think, "Well, they deserved it."
Murderer killed in prison? The people cheer.
Suspect crashes car and dies while fleeing from the cops? More cheering while people say "they shouldn't have run."
Child molester raped, beat, or murdered in prison? Yet more cheering.
To an extent, it's human nature to have these reactions and emotions. Call it poetic justice. Call it karma. Call it natural consequences. Call it anything you want, but we shouldn't fall for all the excuses and rationalizations. They are endless.
As for this particular footage, I am glad it exists. Body cams are part of what will be necessary to rebuild trust in the police. Good police know that the footage protects them from false claims. Personally, I think body cams and dash cams should be hard-wired to be on all the time. There have been way too many cases where the cameras were turned off by multiple officers during an incident.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday August 05 2020, @09:54PM
Just a few years ago I was against the idea of surveillance cameras everywhere.
But maybe cameras everywhere is actually a good idea, as long as the cameras belong to the citizens.
Every business, every vehicle, every home having cameras might help fight crime.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.