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‘You’re Going To Kill Me Man’: Body Cam Transcripts Show George Floyd Told Officers He Couldn’t Breathe 20 Times

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Kaylee Greenlee Immigration and Extremism Reporter
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During the eight minutes and 46 seconds that George Floyd struggled to breathe as an officer knelt on his neck, he was told it “takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk,” transcripts from body camera footage released Wednesday show.

Floyd told former Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin, “you’re going to kill me man,” the Associated Press reported. Transcripts of former officers Thomas Lane and J. Kueng’s body camera footage from Floyd’s arrest on May 25 show he told officers he couldn’t breathe over 20 times.

“Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk,” Chauvin told Floyd, the AP reported.

The transcripts were released after a request from Lane, who has appealed to have the case against him dismissed, the AP reported. His lawyer, Earl Gray, said charges against his client do not meet probable cause based on the evidence.

Chauvin was charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter while Kueng, Lane and Tou Thao were charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter, the AP reported.

Lane claims he told Floyd to show his hands and pulled his gun when Floyd reached for something, but holstered the weapon once Floyd complied, the AP reported. Floyd said he had been shot before and pleaded with the officers not to shoot him, according to the transcripts.

Floyd’s behavior was inconsistent and he had foam in his mouth, and when officers asked whether he was under the influence of anything Floyd said he was scared, according to Gray, the AP reported.

Gray said Lane was a rookie officer who deferred to the senior officer on scene after Floyd injured himself, the AP reported. Floyd was “hitting his face on the glass in the squad and began to bleed from his mouth,” so officers took Floyd to the ground, Gray said. “The plan was to restrain him so he couldn’t move and hurt himself anymore.”

Floyd said “I can’t breathe,” and resisted officers’ efforts to get him into the squad car, the AP reported. “I want to lay on the ground,” Floyd told officers. “Oh man, God don’t leave me man, please man, please man,” he said, according to the transcript.

“I’ll do anything y’ll tell me to, man…I’m just claustrophobic, that’s it,” Floyd said, the AP reported. Lane reportedly asked if Floyd should be rolled on his side telling the officers “he’s got to be on something,” and Chauvin said no.

When Kueng was unable to find Floyd’s pulse, Chauvin replied, “Huh?” according to the transcript. (RELATED: Protests Persist One Month After George Floyd’s Death)

“Yeah. I would say felt like it maybe could have been handled differently or we should be reassessing what we’re doing, I think is what I was kind of coming to,” Lane told state investigators, the AP reported.

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