(Photo : Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 29: Protesters gather in Manhattan’s Foley Square to protest the recent death of George Floyd, an African American man who killed after a police officer was filmed kneeling on his neck in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020 in New York City. Across country protests against his death have set off days and nights of rage as its the most recent in a series of deaths of African Americans by the police.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - Minutes before his death, a panicking Floyd can be seen struggling with officers while he is in the back of the Minneapolis police officers squad's car. This was seen in the partial footage from the body cameras worn by the now-former officers wherein Floyd can be heard pleading, "I can't breathe."
Moments after Floyd's struggle, ex-officers Thomas Lane and Derek Chauvin can be heard wherein Lane asked Chauvin whether Floyd should be rolled on Lane's side.
The death of George Floyd on the 25th of May was caught on a cellphone video, sparked protests in the whole city of Minneapolis and soon nationwide. The demonstrations over his killing and the other African American victims of police brutality and racism prompted intense discussions all around the nation.
The London-based news site, The Daily Mail, did not give out any information regarding how they obtained the footage in the police body cameras.
Body-worn Cameras' footage from former officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng was filed with the court on July 7 by the attorney of Lane as evidence in his defense and his motion to dismiss charges filed against him, but only the transcripts of the videos were made public by the court.
The presiding judge of the cases, Peter Cahill, made the footages of Lane and Kueng's body camera available for limited in-person viewing on July 15 at the court.
Despite the availability of the footage, Cahill declined news organizations to publish the said video footage. A coalition composed of local and national media companies filed a motion for the immediate release of the body-worn footage in July, CNN reported.
The four officers involved in the incident have been fired and no longer part of the Minneapolis police department.
The officer at the time, Chauvin caught kneeling on Floyd which was caught on video has been charged with second-degree murder.
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According to USA Today, due to their involvement in Floyd's death, three other officers namely Lane, Kuend, and Tou Thao were also arrested and charged with abetting and aiding second-degree murder and abetting and aiding second-degree manslaughter.
Floyd's family attorney, Ben Crump, shared in a statement on Monday that the leaked video clearly shows that Floyd did not pose any threat during the incident.
He also stated that because of the videos, the world will know the wrongs committed against Floyd.
He also mentioned that the police officers approached Floyd with guns drawn, simply because he was a black man, and based on the video, Floyd never posed any threat.
Since the incident happened, none among the officers has submitted a formal plea, while Lane and Thao's attorney have asked for their client's cases to be dismissed.
On the other hand, the attorney of Kueng shared that his client intends to plead not guilty.
On Monday, a spokesman for the judge stated that Cahill had yet to rule on the motion regarding the public release of the footage from the body-worn cameras.
In an interview, Minnesota Attorney General,Keith Ellison, the prosecutor of the case clarified that his team is not the source of video that was obtained by the Daily Mail. He also stated that they will continue to ensure the strictest precautions for a fair trial of the case.
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