Last June, almost a month after George Floyd’s death, the Minneapolis police chief issued a scathing statement about the officers involved in Floyd’s arrest.
Chief Medaria Arradondo, the first black person to hold the post, described Floyd’s death as “tragic” and said it was “not due to a lack of training.”
“It was murder – it was not a lack of training,” Arradondo said, adding that was why he took swift action and a day after Floyd’s death the four officers involved in the incident was involved, dismissed.
“The officers knew what was happening – one deliberately caused it, and the other did not prevent it,” Arradondo said in June.
On Monday – this time from the witness stand – Arradondo again punished Derek Chauvin, the former officer who, according to prosecutors, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. It was a rare example of evidence from a police chief against a police officer. (Arradondo also testified at the trial of Mohamed Noor, a former police officer convicted of murdering Justine Damond in 2017.)
Chauvin faces charges of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree murder. The three other officers who responded to the scene and were fired – J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao – are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. They will be tried in August.
Prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked Arradondo if he had any convictions about when Chauvin’s self-control of Floyd, including his knees to his neck, should end.
“Once Mr. Floyd stopped resisting, and certainly once in distress and tried to verbalize it, it should have stopped,” Arradondo replied.
“Initially, there is reason to try to get him under control in the first few seconds,” Arradondo said. “But once there was no more resistance, and clearly then Mr. Floyd no longer responding and even being immobile, he continued to apply the level of force to an outspoken person, handcuffed behind their back, who in no way forms anything that is according to policy. It is not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or values. ‘
Prosecutors said Floyd died on Chauvin’s knees to his neck. The defense said Floyd’s death was caused by an overdose, underlying health conditions and adrenaline.
During his testimony, Arradondo outlined departmental policies on the time when violence and de-escalation are needed. He said Chauvin did not follow the policies regarding de-escalation, the use of force and the duty to provide assistance to people in need when he knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than 9 minutes. Floyd, who was black, was caught in a video of bystanders being seen regularly and Chauvin, who is white, says he cannot breathe.
“We have a duty to be careful, and therefore, if someone is in our custody, regardless of whether he is a suspect, we are obliged to make sure we take care,” Arradondo said.
Prosecutors said that when Chauvin brought Floyd under control, he violated a number of departmental policies in which he was trained.
Police were called to Cup Foods, a convenience store, on May 25 after a cashier suspected Floyd had used a fake $ 20 bill to buy cigarettes. Arradondo said Monday that the offense that Floyd allegedly committed will not usually result in anyone being arrested. Arrests, he said, were usually reserved for violent crimes. The statement called into question the officers’ use of force. According to the video of the police that was played in court last week, Lane initially approached Floyd with his gun.
Arradondo was asked if Exhibit 17 – a photo of the bystander video showing Chauvin looking up at bystanders while kneeling on a seemingly tormented Floyd – was within police departmental policy 5-300, which used reasonable force allowed and whether Chauvin used. an authorized neck protection.
“Conscious neck control through policy calls for mild to moderate pressure,” he said. “When I look at Exhibit 17, and when I look at Mr. Floyd’s facial expression, it does not seem in any way, in any form or form, to be light to moderate.”
Arradondo was also asked by Schleicher whether Chauvin followed the department’s policy 5-304 regarding de-escalation, Arradondo said: “I absolutely disagree with that.”
Arradondo’s testimony was followed by 5th ring inspector Katie Blackwell. At the time of Floyd’s death, Blackwell was the commander of the training division.
Blackwell showed the same photo of the bystander video depicting Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. She also said that the restriction, as depicted, violates departmental policy and that neck restraints are not taught.
“I do not know what kind of improvised position it is,” Blackwell testified. “So that’s not what we practice.”
Blackwell testified that she has known Chauvin for about 20 years.
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell’s opening statement last week predicted the testimony of Arradondo and Blackwell.
“He will not utter any words,” Blackwell said of Arradondo. “He is very clear. He will be very determined that it is excessive force. ‘
Blackwell said Arradondo would testify that Chauvin’s “behavior did not match the training and policies of the police department.
Under cross-examination, Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, asks Arradondo when he last arrested a suspect. Arradondo said it had been ‘many years’.
Nelson also reconsidered his assertion in his opening statement that the crowd of bystanders who observed Floyd’s arrest – some of whom cursed at the officers and many of whom shouted at Chauvin to get off Floyd – Chauvin’s ability to render assistance , hindered.
Arradondo agreed with Nelson that violence is sometimes necessary. He told Schleicher that training has improved significantly since joining the force more than 30 years ago.
In his statement in June, Arradondo said one of the officers at the scene told Chauvin that Floyd should be put in a recovery position, which means he should turn from his side.
Arradondo and Blackwell testified Monday that it is important not to keep handcuffed people on their stomachs for long, as the inclined position can make it difficult to breathe.
Arradondo testified that he heard from a deputy principal about the incident around 9pm on May 25 before Floyd was pronounced dead. After hearing that Floyd had died, he went to his office in the town hall, where he looked at the city camera which had no sound and was further away. He said he could only see the back of the officers, and he did not fully determine what happened.
Not long after, he said, he learned of the bystander video of Floyd’s last moments posted on Facebook.
Near midnight, a community member contacted me and said, ‘Chief, did you see the video of your officer suffocating and killing in the 38th and Chicago? ” Arradondo said. “And as soon as I heard the statement, I just knew it was not the same milestone camera video I had seen.”
Within minutes, he said, “I saw for the first time what is now known as the bystander video.”