A video of a 2019 incident involving Minneapolis Police and George Floyd will be made available to the public amid pushback from prosecutors who did not want the video to become public, numerous sources reported.
Judge Peter Cahill determined that making the video available would not taint a potential jury. The attorney for fired Minneapolis police officer, Thomas Lane, was a proponent of the video becoming public because “it shows a false narrative by the state,” CBS Minnesota reported Friday.
BREAKING: Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill has ruled that body camera footage from a May 2019 police incident involving George Floyd will be accepted as evidence and available to the public. | https://t.co/jJP74fngIT https://t.co/ruKxtAuo9R
— WCCO – CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) October 15, 2020
Three body cameras were released showing different perspectives, but all show Floyd with Minneapolis police officers on May 6, 2019, during an unlicensed stop, CBS reported. Floyd fails to comply with the initial requests. (RELATED: ‘We Wept Together’: Barrett Describes How George Floyd’s Death Affected Her Black Children)
“Put your hands on the dash. I’m not going to shoot you, put your hands on the dash,” an officer said as he pulls a weapon. “Put hands on dash, the last time I’m going to tell you that. It’s simple.”
Floyd complies, and another officer approaches.
“Open your mouth. Spit out what you’ve got. I’m going to tase you,” an officer said, per CBS.
Floyd is out of the vehicle, and officers put his hands behind his back and handcuff him, the video reportedly shows.
“You’re not going to get beat up or nothing if you just follow what we’re asking you to do,” an officer said, according to CBS.
As officers are searching Floyd, you can faintly hear him asking for his “mama.” He pleads with officers as they say they found a bunch of pills.
“Look at how crazy he’s acting. Look at him, he’s crying like an adult male, too,” an officer said.
Within four and a half minutes of officers approaching the vehicle, Floyd is in the back of a squad car.
Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane passes through the A-tower public entrance, ahead of a courthouse appearance, at the Hennepin County Government Center on July 21, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
Floyd died May 25 after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes. The three other officers who were at the scene — Lane, J. Kueng, and Tou Thao — have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and with aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, according to the AP.
Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, filed a motion on behalf of his client Monday, requesting that Floyd’s arrest in May 2019 be included as evidence, according to Fox 9. Gray argues Floyd’s behavior during the 2019 incident is “almost an exact replica” to his arrest in 2020, showing the state has a “false narrative” that he was a “law abiding citizen that was afraid for his life.”
The only difference between the fatal 2020 incident and the earlier arrest, Gray wrote, is “Floyd complied when getting into the squad car on May 6, 2019,” according to Star Tribune.
Prosecutors took the extraordinary step of withholding all case filings from public view for at least two days, including the filing that details his 2019 arrest. “This will permit the parties to review those filings before they are made available to the public and, if necessary, to notify the Court within two business days of their intent to oppose public disclosure,” Prosecutor Matthew Frank wrote, according to Star Tribune.
Prosecutors also argued that the video will unfairly sway public opinion, adding to pressure to move the trial out of Minneapolis, CBS reported.