George Floyd's death: Police body camera footage reveals his struggle before death

A newly released police body camera footage of George Floyd’s arrest reportedly showed him begging to the officer to remove the knee from his neck. According to international media reports, last week, a Minnesota judge had ordered the release of the videos recorded from the body cameras of Thomas Lane and J Kueng on the night Floyd died.

The video, which is nearly an hour-long, reportedly revealed how the encounter between Floyd and police quickly escalated leading to the alleged killing. The reported footage showed the officer approaching Floyd’s vehicle and then tapping on the window. The footage then captured officers pulling out Floyd from the car, while passenger Shawanda Hill told the police he was previously shot in a similar situation. 

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As per reports, Floyd could be seen begging the police officials not to put him in a police car. Floyd was heard explaining that he was claustrophobic and has coronavirus before the officers pushed him into the back seat. The African-American, however, got out, at which point the officers put his face down on the ground and Derek Chauvin, who has been charged with murder, put his knee on his neck for around nine minutes. 

Footage shows Floyd struggling to breathe 

The footage reportedly showed Floyd struggling. Around 16 minutes into the video, Floyd could be heard uttering his final words - “Man, I can’t breathe”. The newly released video revealed that Floyd was on the ground for approximately six minutes before an officer checked his pulse and said that he could not find one. Further, it also reportedly showed that the emergency responders who arrived nearly two minutes later, loading Floyd into the ambulance instead of treating him on the spot. 

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According to reports, Floyd lost consciousness and was pronounced dead at the hospital. The footage was filed with the court last month by Lane’s attorney as part of a motion to have his case dismissed. 

George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died in Minneapolis on May 26. As per reports, Floyd was arrested by the local police for unspecified charges. A tussle was said to have broken out between Floyd and the police officials, which resulted in Floyd’s death after being subdued for several minutes by an officer.

Floyd's death triggered mass unrest in various parts of the US, giving momentum to the ''Black Lives Matter' movement. As per reports, police officer Derek Chauvin and three other officers - Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Kueng - were later fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.

(Inputs and Image: AP) 

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