Derek Chauvin called ‘all of the shots’ on day he killed George Floyd, attorney for another officer at the scene claims
Incarcerated ex-cop Derek Chauvin took the lead on the day he killed George Floyd in Minneapolis, an attorney for one of the other officers at the scene argued Monday in court.
The three former cops who were with Chauvin when he knelt on Floyd’s neck on May 25, 2020, face federal charges of depriving Floyd of his civil rights.
“You’ll see and hear officer Chauvin call all of the shots,” lawyer Tom Plunkett, who is representing ex-officer J. Alexander Kueng, said Monday.
Prosecutors claim Kueng and fellow officers Tou Thao and Thomas Lane didn’t intervene as Chauvin, who is white, knelt on the neck of Floyd, an unarmed Black man, for more than nine minutes. Kueng and Lane helped hold Floyd down, while Thao tried to stop others in the area from getting involved.
“For second after second, minute after minute, these three CPR-trained defendants stood or knelt next to officer Chauvin as he slowly killed George Floyd right in front of them,” prosecutor Samantha Trepel said in her opening statement in the federal courtroom in the Warren E. Burger Federal Building in St. Paul. .
Floyd’s death at age 46, which was captured in a cell phone video that garnered global attention, inspired protests against police brutality and calls for equality in the United States and beyond.
“They chose not to protect George Floyd, the man they had handcuffed and placed in their custody,” Trepel said.
Trepel said Lane asked if Floyd should be rolled onto his side during the encounter, but Keung retorted that they should “just leave him.”
“We will ask you to hold these men accountable for choosing to do nothing and watch a man die,” Trepel told jurors.
The defense, meanwhile, claims the officers weren’t properly prepared by the Minneapolis Police Department to know when to intervene with another cop, with Plunkett referencing Chauvin’s seniority.
Last month, Chauvin pleaded guilty to one count of depriving Floyd of his civil rights, while a second count was dropped. Chauvin, who had pleaded not guilty to the charges months earlier, will not have a trial after changing his plea.
Chauvin is serving a 22½-year sentence after he was convicted on state charges of murder and manslaughter.
The other three officers are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter and have another trial set to begin in June.
Attorneys representing Floyd’s family said Chauvin’s guilty plea in the federal case in December was “a victory for the interest of justice” in many ways, but said “we will never forget its cost.”
“George Floyd was a son, a brother, and a father — a father who, as [daughter] Gianna Floyd put it, ‘changed the world.’ We all play a role in keeping his legacy alive,” their statement last month said.
“We must all keep marching. We must all keep fighting against injustice. We must do this for George, to ensure that his one life and shocking death will change the future for countless others.”
The federal trial for Thao, Kueng and Lane could take four weeks, Judge Paul Magnuson said.
Lane plans to take the stand during the trial, attorney Earl Gray said Monday. Lawyers for the other two ex-officers have not said whether either of them plan to testify, nor has anyone confirmed whether Chauvin will take the stand during the trial.
With News Wire Services
