The trial for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death, will resume Wednesday with the testimony of a Minneapolis firefighter who voiced frustration to the court that she had been prevented from using her EMS training to assist Floyd as he was placed under arrest last May.
As she first testified Tuesday, Genevieve Hansen, one of several bystanders seen and heard shouting at Chauvin as he pinned Floyd facedown outside of Cup Foods on May 25, 2020, cried as she recounted how she was unable to come to Floyd's aid or tell police what to do, such as administering chest compressions.
Prosecutors argue that Chauvin, who pressed his knee into the 46-year-old handcuffed Black man’s neck for 9 minutes, 29 seconds, is responsible for killing him. But the defense team has made the case that levels of fentanyl and methamphetamine in Floyd’s system, as well as underlying health conditions, contributed to his death and Chauvin did what he was trained to do while placing Floyd under arrest.
FAST FACTS
- Chauvin, 45, is charged with second and third degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Floyd.
- Several witnesses who were at the scene when Floyd was arrested outside of Cup Food after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill testified Tuesday.
"There was a man being killed," Hansen, who testified in her dress uniform and detailed her emergency medical technician training, said in court Tuesday. "I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right."
Hansen was among several onlookers to testify Tuesday to what they saw outside Cup Foods.
Chauvin continued to kneel on Floyd while fellow Officer Tou Thao held the crowd of about 15 back, even when Hansen identified herself as a firefighter and pleaded repeatedly to check Floyd’s pulse, according to witnesses and bystander video. Floyd grew listless while under Chauvin’s restraint and was eventually carried on a stretcher into an ambulance. He was pronounced dead later that same day.
Witnesses who testified Tuesday included 18-year-old Darnella Frazier, who recorded the bystander video on her cellphone that later went viral and evoked sometimes violent demonstrations worldwide, as well as a national reckoning on race relations and police brutality. Another witness was an MMA fighter named Donald Williams, who claimed Chauvin had Floyd in a "blood choke."
Chauvin’s defense attorney, Eric Nelson, on Tuesday illustrated to the court how Williams was captured on video repeatedly yelling expletives at the officers at the scene, bolstering the argument police were faced with a hostile crowd.
Fox News will present coverage surrounding the historic trial throughout the week. In addition to programming on the Fox News Channel, Fox News Digital will provide livestreams of the proceeding at foxnews.1eye.us.
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