New surveillance video seems to show a struggle happening inside a Minneapolis police cruiser moments before George Floyd was pinned to the ground in an encounter with former cop Derek Chauvin that allegedly led to Floyd's death in police custody May 25. In the video activist Shaun King shared on Instagram Saturday, one officer stands guard while at least two others tend to a situation unfolding in the backseat of the cruiser, which is blocked from the camera’s view.
“It’s all coming together,” King said in a caption for the video. “Police were in the car beating the s--t out of George Floyd. One stands watch, while the others attacked him.” It is, however, unclear in the video if Floyd is being beaten as King described. (WARNING: This story contains violent video that may not be suitable for younger readers.)
Floyd’s death has prompted protests throughout the nation after more widely-circulated video showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for what The New York Times reported was more than eight minutes.
“The defendant had his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds in total,” an official stated in a court document the Times obtained. “Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was non-responsive.”
The moments leading up to the violent detainment were captured not only in store surveillance video but in police body-cam video released to multiple news organizations, including The Telegraph.
The newspaper reported that Floyd was laid off from the Conga Latin Bistro, where he worked as a bouncer and was described by the bistro's owner as "always cheerful." He was arrested when a business called police on him, alleging he used a fake $20 bill.
Officers Thomas Lane and J.A. Kueng initially responded to the call and found Floyd in the driver seat of his car with two passengers, according to a complaint The Telegraph obtained. At one point in the encounter, Lane pulled a gun out on Floyd through an open window of his vehicle and asked him to show his hands. Lane, then ordered Floyd out of the car, and he "resisted being handcuffed," according to the complaint. He later "became compliant" when Lane sat him on the ground and explained why he was being detained, police said. When Lane and Keung tried to walk Floyd to their squad car, he fell to the ground and told them he was claustrophobic, according to the complaint. Chauvin and Tou Thao, another officer, arrived to the scene later, The Telegraph reported.
Officers struggled to get Floyd in the police cruiser when he didn't do so "voluntarily," police said in the complaint. That’s when Chauvin, who as an off-duty guard worked with Floyd last year at El Nuevo Rancho nightclub, pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck, The Telegraph reported. "I can't breathe," Floyd said at one point in the encounter.
Chauvin, 44, was eventually charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter Friday.
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