How the Minneapolis Police Department first described the murder of George Floyd, and what we know now

by

That was the headline of a Minneapolis police press release on May 25, 2020, in the hours after an unnamed man in his 40s died. Absent from the nearly 200-word post is any mention of officers holding him down, a knee in the neck, or any idea of ​​how long this “interaction” lasted.

Thanks to video from a 17-year-old bystander, we now know what really happened: Former police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, using excessive and unreasonable force when he knelt on Floyd’s neck and returned for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Chauvin was convicted on two charges of murder and one manslaughter charge in a Minnesota criminal court on Tuesday.

In light of his belief, that original press release is worth rethinking to understand how police statements can hide the truth with a mix of passive language, blatant omissions, and garbled sense of timing.

Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges for the murder of George Floyd

The post 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. He was ordered to get out of his car. After he got out, he physically opposed officers. Handcuffed and noted that he appeared to be suffering in medical emergency Officers called for an ambulance He was transported by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he died a short time later.

At no time were weapons of any kind used by anyone involved in this incident. The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension has been called in to investigate this incident at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department.

“No officers were injured in the incident. Body-worn cameras were on and activated during this incident.”

The mail was sent by John Elder, the director of the Office of Public Information under the Minneapolis Police Department.

How police language covered up the truth

Everything in the police station is technically true.

Police responded to a report of a man who used a suspected counterfeit $ 20 note. According to a toxicology report, Floyd was under the influence of fentanyl and methamphetamine at the time. He physically resisted officers when they tried to get him into the police car. They were able to put handcuffs on him.

The officers did notice that he was in a medical emergency, and they called an ambulance. No weapons were ‘used’, at least in the sense that they did not shoot or hit him with a weapon.

This is what happened to George Floyd from every perspective and angle

But all things considered, the post is deep misleading and tries to cover up the role of the officers in his death.

It reverses the timing of the handcuffs and hides the fact that Floyd was in handcuffs almost from the start of their interaction.

It notes that he was handcuffed in the same sentence and was “in medical emergency,” even though they happened about 20 minutes apart. Most importantly, it ignores what the police did between those two events.

There is no mention of the police holding him prone on the floor or of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. It doesn’t mention that Chauvin stayed in that position for a long time – 9 minutes and 29 seconds. It does not mention that Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe” and called for his “mama” before he lost consciousness, stopped breathing, and lost his pulse. It does not say that Chauvin remained on his neck until the paramedics motioned for him to get up from Floyd’s limp body.

It also does not mention that former officer Thomas Lane aimed his gun at Floyd while in his vehicle, which could be interpreted as ‘using’ a weapon.

Department of Justice to investigate police practices in Minneapolis after George Floyd's death
We know the truth of it all because of a remarkable amount of video showing what really happened that day.

The 17-year-old, Darnella Frazier, posted her video to Facebook, which was seen by people around the world, including the Minneapolis police chief. Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter who was turned down from providing assistance to 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 testified.

A city surveillance camera across the street showed Floyd’s reluctance from a distance. An emergency call center that had watched the live feed from that video called her supervisor to voice her 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 prior to the fatal restraints.
Finally, three of the officers’ body cameras showed their extensive interactions with Floyd up close. Chauvin’s camera fell under the police car for the restraint, so doesn’t show everything, but it reveals his arrival at the scene and his attempt to defend his actions afterward.

What the police did after seeing video of bystanders

When he first learned that a man had been hospitalized while in police custody, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo alerted the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and called the mayor, testifying in Chauvin’s trial. He then watched video of a city camera arrest across the street, but nothing jumped out, he testified.

At around midnight, a communications officer contacted him to show him Frazier’s bystander video, giving the chief a close-up view of the incident, he testified.

Minneapolis Police fired all four of the agents 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: part of this investigation. “

A teenager with 'a cell phone and guts' is credited with Derek Chauvin's murder conviction
Chauvin was arrested and charged with murder on May 29, and the three other officers were arrested on June 3 and charged with complicity. They pleaded not guilty and are expected to face trial this summer.
Elder, the police spokesman who sent the warning, told the Los Angeles Times last year that he based the initial release on information from sergeants working in the area and computer-aided dispatch, which did not mention the use of force. He had not yet viewed the camera images.
“This literally had no intention of cheating or being dishonest or dishonest. If we had known this (situation) was what we saw in the video, that statement would have been completely different,” Elder told the LA Times. .
In response, Minneapolis City Council voted last summer to remove the Public Information Office from the police force and place it under city control, according to CNN affiliate WCCO.

On Wednesday, George Floyd’s brother Philonise Floyd said it was the presence of cameras that opened doors to the “historic” verdict in the Chauvin trial.

“To me, Emmett Till, he was the first George Floyd,” referring to the 14-year-old black boy who was tortured and murdered in Mississippi in 1955. changed – the cameras, the technology. It helped open doors because without it my brother would have just been another person on the side of the road to die. “

CNN’s Aditi Sangal contributed to this report.

.Source