In the hours after George Floyd was assassinated on May 25 last year, Minneapolis police made their first comments about his death.
The announcement did not mention former officer Derek Chauvin placing his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes.
It does not mention the fact that this use of force was contrary to the training of the department.
It does not mention that Floyd gasped for air and told officers he could not breathe.
It does not mention the pleas of terrified bystanders – some of them children – who begged the police to resign.
It did not mention that Floyd pressed between the weight of Chauvin’s knee and the street’s asphalt, but that he tried everything he could – even with his fingers, knuckles and shoulder muscles – to take in oxygen.
It did not mention that in his last moments, Floyd called to his mother – his ‘mum’ – who had died two years earlier.
The brief announcement of 201 words only states that a man died ‘after’ a ‘medical incident during police interaction’ and emphasizes that the police did not use any weapons.
“Officers were able to handcuff the suspect and noted that he apparently had medical distress,” the police statement read. “Officials called an ambulance. He was transported by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died shortly afterwards.”
But on Tuesday, 12 jurors found that it did not happen.
Instead, they found Chauvin guilty of the second-degree murder of Floyd. They found that Chauvin killed Floyd unintentionally while assaulting him.
They found Chauvin guilty of third-degree murder, which means he killed Floyd while acting extremely dangerously, without considering human life and “implying a corrupt mind”.
And they found Chauvin guilty of second-degree manslaughter, meaning he knowingly risked Floyd’s death for his ‘punishable negligence’.
In the wake of the verdict and a national debate in the media about how much faith it has in giving police statements regarding deaths in custody or during arrest attempts, several viral tweets highlighted the stark contrast between the first official report of Floyd’s death, the bystander video soon emerged, and the jury’s final determination that he was killed.
Read the original Minneapolis Police Department statement here:
“Man dies after medical incident during police interaction”
May 25, 2020 (MINNEAPOLIS) On Monday night, shortly after 8 p.m., Minneapolis police officers responded to the 3700 block of Chicago South Avenue on a report of a forgery underway. Officers were notified that the suspect was sitting on top of a blue car and appeared to be under the influence.
Two officers showed up and tracked down the suspect, a man believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to get out of his car. After climbing out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to handcuff the suspect and noted that he apparently had medical distress. Officers called an ambulance. He was transported by ambulance to Hennepin County Medical Center where he died shortly thereafter.
At no stage were weapons of any kind used by anyone involved in this incident.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension was called in to investigate this incident at the request of the Minneapolis Police Department.
No officers were injured in the incident.
Body-worn cameras were turned on and activated during this incident.
Read here the report from BuzzFeed News on the verdict on the murder of Chauvin.