New details have emerged after Daily Mail obtained footage from the body cameras worn by two of the now-former Minneapolis police officers involved in the arrest of George Floyd, a panicked Floyd can be seen struggling with officers while in the back of a squad car in the minutes before his death, saying, “I can’t breathe.”
Moments later, following the struggle, Officer Thomas Lane can be heard asking Officer Derek Chauvin whether Floyd should be rolled on his side.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Donald Trump: US Treasury Should Get A Slice Of Tiktok Sale Price
Floyd died May 25 while in custody, and the incident — which was also recorded on cell phone video — set off protests that soon went nationwide. The demonstrations over his killing and the deaths of other African Americans at the hands of police prompted intense discussions on racism in America.
The tapes show in minute detail how a very distressed Floyd begs ‘Mr. Officer, please don’t shoot me. Please man,’ before the struggle that ended with his death on May 25.
It also shows how belligerent cops cursed at and manhandled the sobbing suspect, ignoring his pleas for compassion.
Floyd resisted as the cops tried to force him into the back of the car, telling them he suffers from claustrophobia and anxiety and how Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, leading to his death, ignoring Floyd’s repeated cries of ‘I can’t breathe.’
Floyd is even heard predicting his own death. ‘I’ll probably just die this way,’ he says. Transcripts from the videos were released in mid-July but a judge in Minneapolis had ruled the video could only be viewed in the courthouse, meaning few people have had the chance to watch the powerful images.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: NY Prosecutors Suggests Wider Investigation Into Trump Criminal Act
This footage from the police body-worn cameras of Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng was filed with the court July 7 by Lane’s attorney as evidence supporting his motion to dismiss the charges against the former officer, but only the written transcripts were made public by the court at the time.