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Christopher
Martin,
now a
20-year-old
college
student,
testified
about
working
the
evening
shift on
May 25,
2020,
when
Floyd
came
into the
store.
(Cedric
Hohnstadt,
Special
to the
Star
Tribune) |
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Prosecution
witnesses
say they
feared
for
Floyd's
life
By
AMY
FORLITI,
STEVE
KARNOWSKI
and
TAMMY
WEBBER
apnews.com
ST.
PAUL,
Minn. -
Prosecutors
at the
federal
trial of
three
former
Minneapolis
police
officers
charged
with
violating
George
Floyd’s
civil
rights
are
trying
to show
that
even
bystanders
knew the
Black
man
needed
help,
while
the
officers
failed
to act
as
former
Officer
Derek
Chauvin
knelt on
Floyd’s
neck.
Footage
shown to
jurors
at the
trial of
J.
Alexander
Kueng,
Thomas
Lane and
Tou Thao
showed
Floyd
struggling
with
officers
as they
try to
put him
in a
police
vehicle,
officers
holding
the
handcuffed
man
facedown
on the
ground
and
Floyd
gasping
for air
as a
growing
group of
onlookers
warned
that
Chauvin
was
killing
him.
Floyd,
46, died
after
Chauvin
knelt on
his neck
for 9
1/2
minutes.
Kueng
knelt on
Floyd’s
back,
Lane
held his
legs and
Thao
kept
bystanders
back,
according
to
prosecutors.
Prosecutors
have
argued
in
pretrial
filings
that
even
bystanders
could
see that
Floyd
was in
serious
need of
medical
attention,
and that
the
officers,
who had
basic
medical
training,
did not
help.
Witness
Charles
McMillian
wept
Tuesday
as
prosecutors
played
video in
which
McMillian
pleads
with
officers
to let
Floyd
breathe,
prompting
a
warning
from the
judge
that
prosecutors
were to
avoid
eliciting
emotional
responses.
“I
knew
something
bad was
going to
happen
to Mr.
Floyd,”
McMillian
testified.
“What
did you
mean by
that?”
prosecutor
Allen
Slaughter
asked.
“That he
was
gonna
die,”
McMillian
responded.
When
questioned
by
defense
attorneys,
McMillian
acknowledged
he did
not see
or hear
several
things,
including
Lane
asking
if Floyd
should
be
rolled
onto his
side and
later
doing
chest
compressions,
and
Kueng
saying
that he
couldn’t
find a
pulse.
“You
could
only see
or hear
things
from
your
perspective,
is that
correct?”
Tom
Plunkett,
Kueng’s
attorney,
asked.
McMillian
agreed.
Kueng,
who is
Black;
Lane,
who is
white;
and Thao,
who is
Hmong
American,
are
charged
with
depriving
Floyd of
his
constitutional
rights:
All
three
are
charged
for
failing
to
provide
Floyd
with
medical
care,
while
Thao and
Kueng
face an
additional
count
for
failing
to stop
Chauvin,
who is
white.
Both
counts
allege
the
officers’
actions
resulted
in
Floyd’s
death.
Chauvin
pleaded
guilty
in
November
to a
federal
civil
rights
violation.
Video
shown to
jurors
was from
police
body
cameras,
street
surveillance
video
and
widely
viewed
bystander
video
that
also was
played
extensively
in the
state
criminal
trial
that
eventually
convicted
Chauvin
of
murder
last
year.
Police
had
responded
to a 911
call
that
Floyd
tried to
use a
counterfeit
$20 bill
to buy a
pack of
cigarettes
at a
corner
store on
May 25,
2020.
His
killing
triggered
worldwide
protests
and a
reexamination
of
racism
and
policing.
Jenna
Scurry,
a
Minneapolis
911
dispatcher,
testified
that
after
Lane and
Kueng
responded
she
called
for
backup
for
them.
They
then
called
for an
ambulance
without
lights
and
sirens,
for a
mouth
injury.
More
than a
minute
later,
Chauvin
and Thao
upgraded
that
call to
request
the
ambulance
come
with
lights
and
sirens,
but
Scurry
said she
was not
told
that
Floyd
wasn’t
breathing,
had no
pulse
and was
unresponsive.
If
she had
known
someone
was
having
trouble
breathing,
Scurry
testified,
she
would
have
also
called
the fire
department,
because
“they
can get
there
faster
sometimes.
... They
can be
almost
anywhere
within
four
minutes.”
Earlier,
a video
from
Thao’s
body
camera
that was
played
during
the
testimony
of the
cashier
who took
the
counterfeit
bill
showed
him
pushing
an
onlooker.
Christopher
Martin,
20, said
he
recorded
about 30
seconds
of video
as
bystanders
were
yelling
at Thao
to check
Floyd’s
pulse,
but
stopped
when
Thao
pushed
the
other
man.
Martin
said he
didn’t
have a
good
view of
Kueng or
Lane.
While
cross-examining
Martin,
Thao’s
attorney,
Robert
Paule,
noted
that
Thao put
his hand
up
before
pushing
the man,
and that
the man
didn’t
listen
to
Thao’s
direction
to get
back on
the
curb.
Paule
said
that
when
Thao
pushed
the man,
he
swatted
Thao’s
hand
away.
U.S.
District
Judge
Paul
Magnuson
has said
the
trial
could
last
four
weeks.
Lane’s
attorney
has said
his
client
will
testify,
but it’s
not
known if
Thao or
Kueng
will.
It’s
also not
clear
whether
Chauvin
will
testify,
though
many
experts
who
spoke to
The
Associated
Press
believe
he
won’t.
Lane,
Kueng
and Thao
also
face a
separate
state
trial in
June on
charges
they
aided
and
abetted
both
murder
and
manslaughter.
___
Webber
contributed
from
Fenton,
Michigan.
___
Find
AP’s
full
coverage
of the
killing
of
George
Floyd
at:
https://apnews.com/hub/death-of-george-floyd
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