The Minneapolis police have released the transcript of George Floyd’s final moments, and here’s a recommendation: Don’t read them. You don’t need to. After weeks in which the nation has seen the devastating video of Floyd’s final moments again, and again, these transcripts are very much salt in a wound. For Black Americans in particular, it’s a very raw wound—and this is a truckload of salt. You don’t need this. None of us do.
The transcripts are essential for the jury to understand the mindset of officers Derek Chauvin, Alexander Kueng, and Thomas Lane, because their mindsets are critical to establishing the charges against them. The transcripts are absolutely not essential to understand that what happened to George Floyd was part of a broad pattern of police using extreme levels of uncalled for violence against Black men, even in situations where they offer no resistance. What the transcripts are is a peek into a very particular form of evil. And a man who understands what’s being done to him, making him justifiably terrified in the last minutes of his life. Don’t go forward unless you feel ready to run into some very bad things.
The complete transcripts can be found here. And here’s a summary of what they say.
The first thing that’s obvious in the transcripts is that Floyd has no idea why the police are approaching him, but immediately tries to soothe the situation. And the next thing that is obvious is how he is treated. Immediately.
George Floyd: Please, Mr.Officer.
Lane: Both hands.
George Floyd: I didn't do nothing.
Lane: Put your fucking hands up right now!
That’s how a rookie officer addresses a Black man within the first thirty seconds of contact, even when that man has only been accused of a nonviolent offense. Floyd says “please, Mr. Officer.” But Lane snaps back by shouting “put your fucking hands up.” That tone is maintained throughout the encounter, with Floyd attempting to mollify the police, and the police treating him with aggressive disdain.
The other thing that’s clear from the beginning is that Floyd is terrified. He repeatedly tells the officers that the last time he was stopped in such an encounter with the police, he was shot while following directions. Floyd’s language is hard to read because he is clearly both struggling to remain painfully polite—limiting his expletives to a “dang”—all the while the police are both holding guns on him and hurling much, much harsher language in his direction over and over.
The other thing that’s obvious is that the police are intent on declaring that Floyd is “resisting,” no matter what he does. Floyd continues to be painfully polite, offering to do things they haven’t even asked to show his level of cooperating.
George Floyd: I'm sorry Mr. Officer, I’ll get on my knees. Whatever.
The officers scream at Floyd for “resisting” until he kneels. Then they scream at him to stand. Then they shove him against a wall. Others on the scene try to tell officers that Floyd has previously been shot by police, and that seeing police coming toward him, guns drawn, makes him nervous. They also tell the police that Floyd is a “good guy” who has “done nothing wrong.”
But the officers continue to challenge Floyd, accusing him of “being on something” and of being “erratic.” All the while, Floyd continues to try to please the police, even as it’s clear he’s extremely frightened.
George Floyd: I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything y'all tell me too, man. I'm not resisting, man. I'm not! I'm not!
As the police begin to force Floyd into the back of the patrol car, he tries to tell them that he’s claustrophobic and asks them to crack the window for him. Clearly, Floyd equates getting into the car with dying. Floyd, near to sobbing, loses his resolve and repeatedly tells officers that he is scared. Scared that he is going to die.
Halfway through the transcript, it’s clear that Floyd is having a genuine anxiety attack. He’s already having difficulty breathing. He’s barely able to stay on his feet. The fear of being forced into the car is driving him to a state where he’s near to collapse. He begs the police over and over to simply talk to him, and they repeatedly say they will not talk to him, because he’s not getting in the back of the police car. Which he simply cannot do.
For a moment, Floyd is relieved as it seems the police are going to stop trying to force him into the car and allow him to sit. But once on the ground, Chauvin begins to kneel on Floyd’s neck, and the long, horrifying sequence of “I can’t breathe” begins. Floyd’s words throughout this sequence are tragic, heartbreaking. Almost from the beginning, he realizes he’s never getting up from that pavement, and begins to say his farewells to his family.
Meanwhile, the police summon an EMS—on low priority—and continue talking about their suspicions of Floyd and his passenger. Every time Floyd complains that he can’t breathe, the police reply by saying “you’re talking” or accuse him of “being on something.” No matter how many times Floyd tells them that he is frightened or claustrophobic, the police insist on reading it in the worst possible way—he’s “erratic” or “squirrel-y” or “on PCP.” All of which is seen as justifying still more action.
Though the rookie officers do much of the talking through the early part of transcript, as Floyd remains on the ground, training officer Chauvin dominates the discussion. And his statements and actions only underline just how little regard the entire group had for Floyd. This sequence is conducted with Floyd face down and distraught, with Chauvin’s knee on his neck.
George Floyd: I’m through, through. I'm claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please. Please? I can't breathe, officer.
Chauvin: Then stop talking, stop yelling.
George Floyd: You're going to kill me, man.
Chauvin: Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk
The distress that Floyd is under, with Chauvin still kneeling on his neck, is enough that Lane asks if they should roll Floyd onto his side. Chavin refuses. At this point, Floyd has stopped saying anything because he is either already unconscious. Or dead.
Onlookers begin to challenge the police, telling them to “get him off the ground.” And the onlookers also have some insight into Chauvin.
Speaker 13: He’s a fucking bum bro. He’s enjoying that shit right now, bro. … You know that’s bogus right now, bro. You know it's bogus.
After Floyd’s passenger warns that Floyd has passed out, another onlooker gets a better look.
Speaker 13: He's not even breathing right bro. You think that's cool? You think that's cool, right?
Chauvin disregards these comments and speaks only to the two officers he is supposed to be training.
Chauvin: You guys alright though?
Lane: Yeah. I mean, my knee might be a little scratched , but I'll survive.
Meanwhile, the onlookers are completely enraged by what they’re seeing as Chauvin continues to kneel on the clearly unconscious—at best—Floyd.
Speaker 13: You're a bum, bro. You're a bum for that. Can't you be a man and see here he's not breathing right now?
Lane: He's breathing
Kueng: He's breathing.
Some of those around try to intervene, but Chauvin warns them away, with Lane and Kueng both backing up Chauvin in keep people back from reaching Floyd. Another bystander attempts to intervene, as Lane again tentatively suggests that Chauvin should get off Floyd’s neck. Chauvin ignores them all.
Speaker 14: Does he have a pulse?
Speaker 8: Get off
Lane: Should we roll him on his side?
Speaker 13: He's not responsive right now, bro.
Speaker 14: Is he responsive?
Chauvin: Yeah, we have an ambulance coming
But with Chauvin still pressing Floyd’s face to the pavement, it’s increasingly obvious to everyone that the training officer is demonstrating how to restrain a dead man. Multiple speakers challenge Chauvin to find a pulse. They ask him what he thinks he is doing. They beg him to get off. Chauvin ignores them all. The crowd around them becomes increasingly outraged, begging them to do something.
Speaker 13: Bro, he's not fucking moving! Bro!
Speaker 16: Get the fuck off of him what are you doing? He’s dying, bro. What are you doing ?
Lane can be heard speaking to the ambulance as it arrives. He tells them that Floyd is not responsive … even as Chauvin continues to kneel on his neck. Lane then asks if they should “get another car” that is, bring in more police, “for the crowd.” Floyd’s body is lifted onto a stretcher—with Chauvin insisting that it be “belted down.”
After all this, Lane gets a chance to explain what happened.
Lane: He was just not compliant with getting out of the car. … We were trying to get him in the back of the squad, and he just basically resisting. … He wasn't showing us his hands at first. Then we were trying to get him into the squad, he kicked his way out. He was kicking on there. And we came out the other side, and he was fighting us, and we were just basically restrained him until you guys got .
Which … is a summary not of what happened, but of exactly how it would have been reported if there had not been cameras present. Even the one officer who twice tried to suggest that Chauvin might want to get off Floyd’s neck leads the way in misrepresenting every step of the arrest and what came after.