More video, testimony from 4 witnesses heard on Day 2 of federal trial
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Jurors heard from four witnesses and saw more video on the second day of the federal trial for three former Minneapolis police officers charged in George Floyd’s death.
About 30 minutes of J. Alexander Kueng’s body camera video — in which he can be heard telling George Floyd, “We’re going to sort all of this out, alright?” and asking Floyd, “Are you on something? Because you’re acting real erratic” — was played for jurors, uninterrupted. Tou Thao’s bodycam video was also played, in which he’s heard telling the crowd on the sidewalk, “This is why you don’t do drugs, kids.”
After the FBI’s forensic video examiner was excused, the cashier at Cup Foods who accepted the counterfeit $20 bill from Floyd testified that he believed Floyd was high because he talked really slow. He also explained how he went to see what was happening when he heard people yelling at Thao to “check his pulse.”
That employee, Christopher Martin, also told jurors Thao pushed one of his coworkers and another man. However, the defense pointed out that Thao only did that after Martin’s coworker didn’t listen to Thao’s command to get off the street and back on the sidewalk.
Charles McMillian, a bystander who pulled over when he saw officers knocking on Floyd’s window and stayed to watch the whole incident, told jurors that officers didn’t provide any help to Floyd.
“My concern was that I knew something bad was gonna happen to Mr. Floyd … he was gonna die,” McMillian said, adding that he told officers to “let (Floyd) breathe.”
This courtroom sketch shows Cup Foods employee Christopher Martin testifying on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, in the federal civil rights trial for three former police officers involved in the killing of George Floyd. [Cedric Hohnstadt]
However, the defense attorneys asked if McMillian heard any officers request an ambulance, check for Floyd’s pulse, report they found no pulse, do chest compressions or suggest rolling Floyd on his side — all things Lane and Kueng (checking pulse) did — and McMillian said he didn’t hear any of that.
The final witness for the day was Minneapolis 911 dispatcher Jenna Scurry, who testified that officers didn’t relay much information to her that night.
Scurry said officers never relayed information that anyone was having trouble breathing, was unconscious, without a pulse or even being restrained. They also didn’t request a rescue squad, which typically responds to a scene quicker than just a normal ambulance request.
“My concerns were something had been wrong, whether that be with the officers or the situation,” she said about the lack of information after noticing a traffic camera at the intersection showed the officers on the ground. She also relayed those concerns to the officers’ on-duty sergeant.
Testimony will continue for a second full day on Wednesday, starting at 9:30 a.m.
Click here to read more in-depth notes from Tuesday’s proceedings.