(CNN) – “Man dies after medical incident while interacting with police”.
That was the headline of a Minneapolis police press release on May 25, 2020, in the hours following the death of an anonymous man in his 40s. The nearly 200-word statement lacks any mention that officers had pushed him to the ground, put a knee around his neck, or any indication of how long this “interaction” lasted.
Thanks to the video of a 17-year-old young witness, we now know what really happened: former police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, with excessive and unreasonable violence as he knelt on him. Floyd’s neck and back for 9 minutes 29 seconds. Chauvin was found guilty on Tuesday of unintentional manslaughter in the commission of a felony, unintentional homicide with contempt for life, and one time accidental manslaughter in a Minnesota court.
In light of the verdict, it’s worth revisiting that original press release to understand how police statements can hide the truth with a mix of passive language, blatant omissions, and a biased sense of time.
The link to the statement now points to the Minneapolis Police Department website, but the text remains accessible through the Internet Archive.
The first homicide newsletter
The bulletin begins by saying that Minneapolis police officers responded to a report of an “ongoing forgery,” noting that the suspect “appeared to be under the influence.”
Two officers arrived and found the suspect, a man who was believed to be in his forties, in his car. They ordered him to get out of his car. After his departure, he physically resisted the agents. Officers managed to handcuff the suspect and noted that he was suffering from medical problems. Officers called an ambulance. He was taken by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died shortly afterwards.
“At no time have weapons of any kind been used by those involved in this incident. At the request of the Minneapolis Police Department, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) has been called in to investigate this incident.
“Not a single officer was injured in the incident. Body cameras were on and activated during this incident. ‘
The message was sent by John Elder, director of the Minneapolis Police Office of Public Information.
How police language hid the truth
Everything the police say is technically true.
Police responded to a man’s complaint who used an allegedly counterfeit $ 20 note. According to a toxicology report, Floyd was under the influence of fentanyl and methamphetamine at the time. He physically resisted the officers when they tried to get him into the patrol. They were able to put handcuffs on him.
Officers realized he appeared to have medical problems and called an ambulance. No “weapons were used”, at least in the sense that he was not shot or hit with a weapon.
But overall, the message is very misleading and helps hide the role of the officers in his death.
In the newsletter, they reverse the handcuff moment and hide the fact that Floyd was captivated almost from the start of their interaction.
He notes that he was fascinated and that he was “suffering from medical problems” in the same sentence, even though they performed about 20 minutes apart. Most importantly, it ignores what the police did between those two events.
There is no question of the police holding him face down on the ground or of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. It does not mention that Chauvin stayed in that position for a long time: 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Nor does he mention that Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” and called his “mom” before he lost consciousness, stopped breathing, and lost his pulse. It does not say that Chauvin remained on his neck until the paramedics ordered him to get up from Floyd’s limp body.
It also does not mention that ex-cop Thomas Lane pointed his gun at Floyd while in his vehicle, which could be interpreted as ‘using’ a weapon.
The role of videos
We know the truth of it all thanks to a remarkable number of videos showing what really happened that day.
17-year-old Darnella Frazier posted her video to Facebook, which was viewed by people around the world, including the Minneapolis police chief. Genevieve Hansen, an off duty firefighter who was denied help from Floyd, also filmed parts of the scene from a slightly different angle. Another high school student used her friend’s phone to film the incident, she said.
A city surveillance camera across the street showed Floyd’s containment from a distance. A operator who saw the live feed from that video called her supervisor to voice concerns about what she had seen. Other videos from inside the Cup Foods store, outside a Chinese restaurant and a bystander in his car showed what happened before the fatal penalty.
Finally, three of the officers’ body cameras showed their long interactions with Floyd up close. Chauvin’s camera fell under the patrol car prior to the arrest, so he doesn’t show everything but reveals his arrival on the scene and his attempt to defend his actions afterward.
After watching the video of a passer-by, what did the police do?
When he learned that a man had been hospitalized while in custody, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo alerted the Minnesota Office of Criminal Apprehension and called the mayor, testifying at Chauvin’s trial. He then watched video of the arrest of a city camera across the street, but nothing struck him, he testified.
At around midnight, a communications member contacted him to show him the video of Frazier, giving the chief a close-up view of the incident, he testified.
Minneapolis Police fired the four officers involved the next day.
On May 26, when Frazier’s video went viral and caused widespread outrage, the Minneapolis Police Department press release was updated with another vague line: “As additional information has become available, it has been determined that the Federal Investigation Office (sic) will share make up this investigation.
Chauvin was arrested on May 29 and charged with murder. The other three officers were arrested on June 3 and charged with complicity. They pleaded not guilty and are expected to be tried this summer.
Police spokesperson’s response
John Elder, the police spokesman who sent the warning, told the newspaper Los Angeles Times in 2020 which based the first statement on information from sergeants working in the area and on computer-aided messages, which did not mention the use of force. He had not yet viewed the body camera recordings.
“This was literally not meant to deceive or be dishonest or dishonest. If we had known this (situation) was what we saw in the video, the pronunciation would have been very different, ”Elder told the Los Angeles Times.
In response, Minneapolis City Council voted last summer to remove the Office of Public Information from police and place it under city surveillance, according to CNN affiliate WCCO.
On Wednesday, George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, said it was the presence of the cameras that opened the doors to the “historic” verdict in Chauvin’s trial.
“To me, Emmett Till was the first George Floyd,” referring to the 14-year-old black boy who was tortured and murdered in Mississippi in 1955. “There just weren’t any cameras around. That’s the only thing that’s changed: the cameras, the technology. It helped open doors because without it my brother would have just been someone else on the side of the road who was on. fate was left.
CNN’s Aditi Sangal contributed to this report.