Chauvin guilty of murder: Videos show moment-by-moment arrest of George Floyd - from terror on his face when officer points a gun at him to begging to breathe under ex-cop's knee
- WARNING: DISTURBING CONTENT
- DailyMail.com obtained videos from the bodycams of officers Thomas Lane and Alex Kueng, who were part of George Floyd's fatal arrest on Memorial Day in Minneapolis
- Floyd died after Officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck nine minutes on May 25, 2020
- Chauvin was found guilty of all charges of Tuesday - second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter
- The tapes show in minute detail how Floyd begs 'Mr. Officer, please don't shoot me. Please man,' before the struggle that ended with his death
- It also shows how Floyd resisted as the cops tried to force him into the back of the squad car, telling them he suffers from claustrophobia and anxiety
- The video begins with Lane knocking on Floyd's car window with a flashlight and once Floyd opens the door, Lane pulls out his gun and points it at Floyd's head
- Floyd, 46, begs him not to shoot, saying: ''I'll look at you eye-to-eye. Please don't shoot me man. I just lost my mom, man'
- He sobs as the officers pull him out of the car and handcuff him, as his ex suggests he was undergoing mental problems and was afraid of police
- Floyd says he can't
breathe over and over again and calls for his 'momma' but his voice
slowly gets weaker as his life drains away, even saying 'I'll probably
just die this way' This is the damning bodycam footage that
shows George Floyd first being approached by cops and held at gunpoint,
escalating to him being pinned under Derek Chauvin's knee - an act that
found the former cop guilty of murder today.
The tapes show minute-by-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 and ignited nationwide protests.
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. Chauvin then knelt on his neck for nine minutes, 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.
On Tuesday Chauvin was found guilty on all counts - second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The jury returned its verdict after just 10 and a half hours of deliberation and after weeks of testimony.
Bodycam footage from two cops accused in the murder of George Floyd 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 on May 25 in Minneapolis d
Chauvin was led out of the court in handcuffs after the verdict came down on Tuesday afternoon
Floyd is seen sobbing as the officers pull him out of the car and handcuff him, as his ex suggests he was undergoing mental problems and was afraid of police. The tapes show in minute detail how Floyd begs 'Mr. Officer, please don't shoot me. Please man,' before the struggle that ended with his death
more videosThe defense called just seven witnesses over two days of testimony. Defense attorney Eric Nelson began by showing the jury video from Floyd's arrest, in an effort to portray that he had a history of feigning medical distress and rapidly ingesting pills when confronted by police through testimony by an officer and a paramedic involved in that arrest.
But the prosecution had powerful testimony from several witnesses, including Dr. Martin Tobin who pinpointed the moment when he said he could see Floyd take his last breath - and said Chauvin's knee remained on Floyd's neck another 3 minutes, two seconds.
'At the beginning, you can see he's conscious, you can see slight flickering, and then it disappears,' Tobin said as he highlighted a still image from police body-camera video. 'That's the moment the life goes out of his body.'
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.
Chauvin and a fourth officer, Tou Thao, were called in to assist. All four were fired the day after Floyd's death.
The events led to months of Black Lives Matter protests throughout the country over police racism and brutality.
It is clear from the video that Floyd was not trying to run away - he had plenty of time to leave the scene before police arrived. But instead he decided to sit in his car with two friends, giving the cops the opportunity to approach.
The videos begin with Lane, 37, and Kueng, 26 — both in their first week as Minneapolis police officers — entering Cup Foods. A staff member rushes up to them waving the banknote. 'Before they drive off. He's parked right here. It's a fake bill from the gentleman,' he tells the cops.
Lane and Kueng then both approach Floyd's blue Mercedes SUV on the other side of the street. Lane goes to the driver's side where Floyd is sitting at the wheel and Kueng approaches the passenger side, where Floyd's ex, Shawanda Hill is in the back seat and a friend, Maurice Hall, is in the front.
Lane is seen knocking on the car window with his flashlight, but Floyd does not immediately open the door. Once the door is open, Lane immediately pulls out his handgun and points it straight at Floyd's head.
'Hey man, I'm sorry,' Floyd says and apologizes again before Lane gets belligerent.
'Put your f***ing hands up right now! Let me see your other hand,' the cop is heard saying.
Floyd does not immediately put his hands on the wheel. 'Put your f***ing hand up there,' Lane orders him. 'Jesus Christ, keep your f**king hands on the wheel.'
Floyd tells the officer he had been shot before, and Lane replies: 'Keep your f***ing hands on the wheel.'
Lane then tells Floyd to put his foot inside the vehicle. 'I'm sorry, I'm so sorry,' Floyd replies. 'God dang man. Man, I got shot the same way, Mr. Officer, before.'
'Okay. Well when I say ''Let me see your hands,'' you put your f***ing hands up,' Lane responds.
The cop then orders Floyd out of the car. 'Hands on top of your head. Step out of the vehicle and step away from me,' he says.
Floyd replies: 'Okay. Mr. Officer, please don't shoot me. Please man.'
'I'm not going to shoot you,' Lane says. 'Step out and face away.
'I'll look at you eye-to-eye. Please don't shoot me man,' Floyd replies. 'I just lost my mom, man.'
Floyd, 46, is seen sobbing as Kueng and Lane pull him out of the car and handcuff him.
During his testimony, expert witness Dr. Tobin relied on graphics and images that depicted the officers' positions on Floyd to analyze the impact the forces had on his death
A staff member rushes up to the two officers waving the banknote. 'Before they drive off, he's parked right here, it's a fake bill from the gentleman,' he tells the cops
Lane is seen knocking on the car window with his flashlight, but Floyd does not immediately open the door. Once the door is open Lane immediately pulls out his handgun and points it at Floyd's head
'Hey man, I'm sorry,' Floyd says and apologizes again before Lane gets belligerent. 'Put your f***ing hands up right now! Let me see your other hand,' the cop is heard saying
The cop then orders Floyd out of the car, saying: 'Hands on top of your head. Step out of the vehicle and step away from me.' That's when Floyd says: 'Okay. Mr. Officer, please don't shoot me. Please man.' 'I'm not going to shoot you,' Lane says. 'Step out and face away.' 'I'll look at you eye-to-eye. Please don't shoot me man,' Floyd replies. 'I just lost my mom, man'
Floyd, 46, is seen sobbing as Kueng and Lane pull him out of the car and handcuff him
The video obtained by DailyMail.com comes from the bodycams of Lane and Alex Kueng, the two cops who were originally called to the scene by Cup Foods' owners. Chauvin and a fourth officer Tou Thao (left) were called in to assist. All were fired the day after Floyd's death. The videos start with Lane, 37, (right) and Kueng, 26 (center) — both in their first week as Minneapolis police officers — entering Cup Foods. A staff member rushes up to them waving the banknote. 'Before they drive off, he's parked right here, it's a fake bill from the gentleman,' he tells the cops
After getting Floyd out of the car, Lane then starts talking to the passengers, Hill and Hall. 'Why's he being all squirrelly and not showing us his hands and just being all weird like that?' Lane asks.
'Because he's been shot before,' Hill, 45, replies.
'Well I get that,' Lane says. 'But still, when officers say: ''Get out of the car...''
'Is he drunk or something?'
'No, he's got a thing going on,' Hill says, pointing to her head and making a circular movement with her finger as if to suggest her ex had mental problems. 'About the police,' she adds.
The two officers then walk Floyd to the squad car and the struggle really begins when Floyd refuses to get in, saying he has claustrophobia.
He falls to the ground. 'Stand up. Stop falling down,' Kueng shouts. 'Stay on your feet and face the car door.'
'Please man. Don't leave me by myself man, please. I'm just claustrophobic.'
'Well you're still going in the car,' Lane says.
'Y'all, I am going to die in here,' Floyd protests. 'I'm going to die, man. I just had COVID, man. I don't want to go back to that.'
Lane offers to roll the cruiser's windows down to help his phobia but Floyd still struggles. 'I'm scared as f***,' he says.
A bystander tells Floyd to calm down because he cannot win in the situation he is in. 'I don't want to win,' Floyd says. 'I'm claustrophobic and I've got anxiety. I don't want to do nothing to them.'
Prosecutors showed this graphic to remind how police officials testified that Chauvin's use of force was unreasonable
It is clear from the video that Floyd had plenty of time to leave the scene before police arrived. But for some reason he decided to sit in his car with two friends, allowing the cops to approach
After getting Floyd out of the car, Lane then starts talking to the passengers, Hill and Hall (left and right). 'Why's he being all squirrelly and not showing us his hands and just being all weird like that?' Lane asks. 'Because he's been shot before,' Hill, 45, replies. 'He's got a thing going on,' Hill says, pointing to her head and making a circular movement with her finger as if to suggest her ex had mental problems (pictured). 'About the police,' she adds
The two officers then walk Floyd to the squad car and that is when the struggle really begins as he refuses to get in saying he has claustrophobia. He falls to the ground. 'Stand up. Stop falling down,' Kueng shouts. 'Stay on your feet and face the car door.' 'Please man. Don't leave me by myself man, please. I'm just claustrophobic,' Floyd begs
'Y'all, I am going to die in here,' Floyd protests. 'I'm going to die, man. I just had COVID, man. I don't want to go back to that.' Lane offers to roll the cruiser's windows down to help his phobia but Floyd is still seen to struggle. 'I'm scared as f**k,' he says
While still in the car, Floyd says for the first time the line that has become synonymous with his death. 'I can't breathe.' Shortly afterwards Chauvin and Thao arrive on the scene
While still in the car, Floyd says for the first time the line that has become synonymous with his death. 'I can't breathe.' Shortly afterwards Chauvin and Thao arrive on the scene.
The officers finally get him in the squad car and close the rear driver's side door behind him, but for a reason that is not clear from the video, Floyd comes out of the passenger side door still struggling.
Within seconds he is lying on the sidewalk with Chauvin's knee pressed on his neck and Lane and Kueng helping to restrain him.
He says he can't breathe over and over again and calls for his 'momma' but his voice slowly gets weaker as his life drains away.
'Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead,' he says at one point.
Kueng is seen nonchalantly picking a pebble from the squad car tire with his right hand as he restrains Floyd's legs with his left.
As his knee presses the life out of Floyd, Chauvin, the most senior officer on the scene, asks rookies Lane and Kueng if they are okay. 'My knee might be a little scratched but I will survive,' Lane answers.
Thao asks his fellow officers whether Floyd is high.
'I believe so. We found a pipe,' Kueng replies. Lane says: 'We found a weed pipe. There might be something else, there might be like PCP or something.'
When Floyd continues to wail that he can't breathe, Kueng is heard telling him. 'You're fine. You're talking fine.'
Floyd replies: 'I'll probably just die this way.'
'I'm through,' Floyd says. 'I'm claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please.'
'Then stop talking. Stop yelling,' Chauvin replies. 'It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.'
The officers finally get Floyd in the squad car and close the rear driver's side door behind him, but for a reason that is not clear from the video, he comes out of the passenger side door still struggling
Within seconds he is lying on the sidewalk with Chauvin's knee on his neck. He says he can't breathe over and over again and calls for his 'momma' but his voice slowly gets weaker as his life drains away
When Floyd continues to say he can't breathe, Kueng is heard telling him. 'You're fine. You're talking fine.' Floyd replies: 'I'll probably just die this way.' 'I'm through,' Floyd says. 'I'm claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please'
Kueng is seen nonchalantly picking a pebble from the squad car tire with his right hand as he restrains Floyd's legs with his left
As Floyd stops moving Chauvin keeps his knee on his neck, despite complaints from a small crowd that has gathered. 'Check his pulse,' one man says repeatedly. 'You call what you are doing okay?' Pictured: Kueng picking a pebble from the tire
The rookie cop callously picked a pebble from the squad car tire just inches from the dying man and seconds before Floyd draws his last breath
But the other officers do little to stop Chauvin. At one point Lane asks: 'Should we roll him on his side?' But Chauvin replies. 'No, he's staying where we've got him.' 'Okay,' Lane says. 'I just worry about the excited delirium or whatever.' 'Well, that's why we got the ambulance coming,' says Chauvin. By the time EMTs arrive, Floyd is dead
As Floyd stops moving Chauvin keeps his knee on his neck, despite complaints from a small crowd that has gathered.
'Check his pulse,' one man says repeatedly. 'You call what you are doing okay?
But the other officers do little to stop Chauvin. At one point Lane asks: 'Should we roll him on his side?' But Chauvin replies. 'No, he's staying where we've got him.'
'Okay,' Lane says. 'I just worry about the excited delirium or whatever.'
'Well, that's why we got the ambulance coming,' Chauvin says.
By the time EMTs arrive, George Floyd is dead.
Over 15 days of testimony the jury of seven men and five women - six white, four black and two bi-racial - was guided through every facet over Floyd's death through the eyes of 45 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence.
In his opening statement, trial attorney Jerry Blackwell told the jury that Chauvin had betrayed the badge he wore on his heart. He said the former officer had violated police policy and trampled the sanctity of human life.
For Blackwell it all boiled down to the nine minutes 29 seconds of Floyd's subdual restraint and neck compression. 'You can believe your eyes' he said, 'That it's a homicide, that it's a murder.'
Not so, according to defense attorney Eric Nelson, for whom the truth could only be viewed through a far wider lens.
For Nelson this was all about reason, doubt and common sense. Common sense would tell the jury that what they had seen with their own eyes was only one part of a much bigger picture.
He said, 'We have to examine the totality of the evidence. That's what this case is ultimately about, the evidence. It is nothing more than that.'
Prosecutors repeatedly referenced this timeline of Floyd's fatal arrest during the trial and showed it once again on Monday
People celebrate Chauvin's guilty verdict at the site where Floyd was killed on Tuesday afternoon
As Nelson sought to un-pick emotions from the scenes of Floyd's death and the testimony of a host of eyewitnesses brought by the state, a heavy fear of what might happen when the verdict came down gripped the city of Minneapolis.
The downtown area was shored up with boards nailed over the windows of businesses downtown and the concrete blockades, steel fences and bails of barbed wire embracing the court and government buildings.
More than 3,000 members of the National Guard were called in to bolster the 1,100 public safety officers already in place – their armored vehicles parked in serried rank not only at the government buildings but in store parking lots, intersections and sidewalks across the city.
The city was reported to have spent more than $1million on security in a four-stage plan dubbed Operation Safety Net, which kicked off with jury selection and entered its final stage with the verdict announcement.
The screw turned tighter with the April 11 shooting of Daunte Wright - the 20-year-old black man killed in a traffic stop by Brooklyn Center police barely ten miles from where Chauvin stood trial.
Night after night the protests raged and curfews were broken in an unending echo of the civil unrest that followed Floyd's death last May.
The verdict brings to an end a trial that has been riven with drama and threats of derailment that started before the jury was even empaneled - with the city's announcement of their $27million civil settlement with the Floyd family - and continued after closing statements' end.
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