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posted by martyb on Wednesday August 05 2020, @02:17PM   Printer-friendly

[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.


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  • (Score: 2) by aristarchus on Wednesday August 05 2020, @08:51PM (2 children)

    by aristarchus (2645) on Wednesday August 05 2020, @08:51PM (#1031943) Journal

    The videos weren't released because an argument can be made that it will influence potential jurors.

    That's like saying evidence shouldn't be released because it will influence potential jurors.

    Which is like saying that the corona virus cases are up because we are testing for it too much. Do we see a conservative thought pattern here?

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @10:38PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 05 2020, @10:38PM (#1031994)

    No. The case is not being tried in the court of public opinion but we could have done without the criminal damage and looting. Under the circumstances, releasing this bodycam footage in May would have been the responsible thing to do. The rates to look at with covid-19 are the infection and death rates, recording asymptomatic cases is only useful for epidemiologists and as a statistical propaganda tool.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @03:21AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 06 2020, @03:21AM (#1032119)

      When it comes to civil service workers violating the law and murdering civilians it becomes a public issue. Not that the public is to pass legal judgment, but we have a right to know a lot of details about such issues. Or we could get some real oversight and transparency groups set up.