The newly released transcript reveals that George Floyd said, “I can’t breathe” to officers more than 20 times moments leading up to his death.
What We Know:
- Floyd’s uttering words were “I can’t breathe” not a few times, as previous videotapes showed, but more than 20 times. He cried out not just for his dead mother but for his children, too. Before his final breath, Floyd gasped: “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me.”
- As Floyd shouted for his life, an officer yelled back at him to “stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.”
- Transcripts of Minneapolis police body camera footage were filed in state court as part of an effort by one of the officers on the scene, Thomas Lane, 37, to have charges that he aided and abetted Floyd’s murder thrown out by a judge.
- The new filings include 82 pages of body camera transcripts and a 60-page transcript of Lane’s interview with investigators. When Lane was asked if he felt either he or Chauvin had contributed to Floyd’s death, his lawyer interjected: “You’re not going to answer that.”
- Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, painted an image of a rookie who trusted Chauvin, a senior officer. Gray said that once Floyd was on the ground, Lane had asked twice if officers should roll Floyd on his side, and Chauvin said no.
- The transcripts show that Floyd tried to cooperate with the police and told them he was not feeling well. “My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please,” Floyd told them. Begging not to be put in a squad car, Floyd said he was claustrophobic.
- Floyd died after another officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee down onto Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes until he was no longer moving.
Chauvin, who was on the force for 19 years, faces second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges in Floyd’s death and up to 40 years in prison if he is convicted. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng, 26, who were both rookie officers, and Tou Thao, 34, also face 40 years in prison if convicted on charges of aiding and abetting Floyd’s murder. All four officers were fired.
