The trial of a former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s May 25, 2020, death is entering its second week. The first week of emotional testimony came from eyewitnesses—and the disturbing video of Floyd’s arrest from police body cameras. Experts expect this week to focus on police training and help answer the question of whether officers were following proper procedure.
Derek Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter. (See “George Floyd Protests.”) Chauvin, who is white, is accused of pinning his knee on the 46-year-old black man’s neck for over nine minutes as Floyd lay face-down in handcuffs outside a corner market.
Prosecutors say Chauvin’s knee killed Floyd. The defense argues that Chauvin did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s use of drugs and underlying health conditions caused his death.
Multiple bystanders captured Floyd’s treatment by police on video. The scenes sparked protests that rocked Minneapolis and spread to other U.S. cities and beyond. Those videos, plus officers’ body-camera video and previously unseen eyewitness footage, came together to form a big part of the first week of trial.
Police Chief Medaria Arradondo will likely testify this week. Arradondo, the city’s first black chief, fired Chauvin and three other officers the day after Floyd’s death. In June, he called the incident “murder.”
“Mr. George Floyd’s tragic death was not due to a lack of training,” Arradondo said at the time. “Chauvin knew what he was doing.”
Soon after Floyd’s death, Minneapolis moved to ban police chokeholds and neck restraints. Arradondo and Mayor Jacob Frey have also made several policy changes, including expanding rules for reporting use-of-force incidents and documenting attempts to de-escalate situations.
Prosecutors intend to build the case that Chauvin improperly restrained Floyd. A duty sergeant and a lieutenant who leads the homicide division both questioned Chauvin’s actions.
“Totally unnecessary,” Lt. Richard Zimmerman, the longest-tenured officer on the force, testified Friday. He said once Floyd was handcuffed, he saw “no reason for why the officers felt they were in danger, if that’s what they felt.” He went on, “And that’s what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force.”
Chauvin attorney Eric Nelson peppered Zimmerman with questions about the threat a handcuffed suspect might still pose. Nelson has also suggested that bystanders shouting at police might have distracted them from Floyd and made them feel threatened.
Jurors heard several days of testimony from bystanders. Some choked up as they recalled feeling powerless to help Floyd. Some also expressed feeling guilt over his death.
The trial has been a horrifying reminder of human fallenness. Many people are following the proceedings closely. Some worry the outcome will not fit the crime. For others, the trial has been too much to bear. Eyewitness Kyra Walker says she had to tune out and shut down Twitter one day. “I had a moment where I just felt broken,” she says. “I realized I just didn’t have it in me to watch all this.”
(Steven Thompson poses for a picture next to a poster of George Floyd in Los Angeles Friday, April 2, 2021. Thompson is choosing not to watch the televised trial because of an underlying dread of how the trial will play out. AP/Damian Dovarganes)
@Christian B
I have a response to that but it would violate the rules of this site.
i no care about the
i no care about the violations rn
he broke them first
80
CHRISTIAN? Are you kidding me? Cheylyn!!! Y'all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We're CHRISTIANS!!!!!!!!! Cheylyn, swear words are unnecessary and there are stronger, nicer ones in our vocabulary.
CHRISTIAN. She hasn't even directly insulted you!! And you just up and insulted her! Come on, man. Live up to your name!
@Aryelle
XD Nice one.
Oh and @Christian, Asher is a great name with a rich history. The name of one of the sons of Jacob, Asher means happy and was given to Leah's son when she realized that she should be happy that God loved her even if her husband didn't. BOOM.
@Christian B
You are being nasty and I don't know who you were talking to. You are so rude.
@Christian B
You are being as nasty as the fungus between your toes.
@Christian B
I'm actually interested to hear who you think is so ugly if you've never seen one of us.
@Asher E
all of u r equally ugly so it could work for anyone here rn
@Cheylyn D
You did say the whole word though.
PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!!!!!
People, please .Please don't swear, or by rude to each other! You are just caught up in this and will probably regret it later! When I have arguments with people on here I always feel horrible later! Aren't we all christians? Can you imagine if someone wasn't a christian and they saw this? They would think all christians were as mean and rude as some of you are being! This is supposed to be somewhere we can disagree peacefully with other christian teens! Not somewhere we can vent! PLEASE!!!! Please, can we debate peacefully? PLEASE, please, stop!!
@Caroline M
I am doing my best.
Caroline M
you kinda right tho...
oop
imma gonna go work out now but.............
Im rooting for you Asher!
and Christian stop bein salty, you did start this, and we were just having a good conversation before you pooped all over it.
@Lissa Y, @Christian B, @Cheylyn D @EVERYONE
Wow Lissa thanks!! IDK how I do it. Lol just practice with my siblings I guess!! Also, I go to a Classical Christian school called Logos Online. That might help me a bit too!!
Hey guys, I don't mean to be denunciatory, but your comments about calling Christian a racist and hypocrite publicly also isn't very sportsmanlike.
Cheylyn: Please be more careful about your language. Talking like that is the quickest way to discredit your opinion on this subject.
Finally...GUYS. HONESTLY. PLEASE. We are acting like immature two-year-olds. This conversation (bin of chaos, more like) is about to crash into the dirt. We may not be able to control the rude words of others, but please, PLEASE, try to control yourself. "Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be." -James 3. This is what has happened here!! We are openly and angrily abusing each other!! Please try to control yourself!!
@Aryelle D
!!!!!!!!! That was so completely inappropriate!!!!!!! LEGIT YALL THIS IS GETTING SERIOUS!! Please stop this before it gets worse!!
@everyone
JUST STOP!! STOP ACCUSING EACH OTHER!! Please, guys, please!!
@Christian B
I said I was sorry OKAY! don't be a butt to my sister because of what I said, that's immature. I am responsible for my own actions and I admit, I was harsh, but my statement was true, everything I said there was true. Stop being mean, I'm begging, I'm asking
@Christian B
I take full responsibility for my part in this but you can't fully blame us for it. You have been blatantly ignoring facts this whole time and it is not constructive to the conversation at all when you do that.
oh one more thing
I feel like you guys are making me apologize because you guys are taking advantage of the fact that I'm a nice person, and that I'm the only person willing to apologize
i already said id stop dont
i already said id stop dont rub it in
@Above
Ok now people are using a little too harsh of words. Christian, you need to stop insulting people without any cause. Just because we don't agree with your ideas doesn't mean that you need to call us terrible names. I have plenty of words I could say, and when I get mad, I get really mad. And that is now. But I am going to keep my mouth zipped as well as I can and try to keep cool, because if I spout off, it is just going to get a whole lot worse. I think you need to get off this website and quit harassing people by your downright rude and ugly comments. You sure don't live up to your name. Caroline, I am trying, but it really hurts me and makes me angry when some who is NOT a Christian teen on here starts purposely trying to be hurtful and attack others. That is not fair. I am trying my best not to use bad words or put my whole thoughts out.
@Aryelle D
You are completely right but we need to try and escalate this situation because clearly, Christian is incapable of accepting responsibility. We need to do our best to be the bigger people in this situation. I have no problems with responding to people when they are the aggressor but we need to do everything we can to keep this conversation cool and calm.
@Above
Look, I am sorry if I said something that was wrong and super hurtful, but I am absolutely not sorry for standing up for you, Aryelle, and for what I believe is right.
@Above
Same
@Aryelle D
I'm sorry. Maybe I'm being too intense. Aryelle, your bathroom words are inappropriate. Also, I don't mean everyone is being a jerk and should apologize. Simply asking the ones who have been rude to stop. I don't mean to force them to apologize, just asking them to do it and then prove that they are. Saying "I'M SORRY I'M SORRY I'VE SAID IT THIRTY FIVE HUNDRED TIMES HOW MANY MORE TIMES MUST I SAY IT??!?!?!" doesn't mean anything unless you prove that you are sorry. One sorry, and starting to act more polite and not so pedantic will totally suffice!!!! Acta non verba is a good motto for this.
@Asher
I agree Christian is not being responsible and I have to say is acting like a five year old. I know that a lot of this is my responsibility in this conversation as well. Wasn't it kinda you and I that started this whole thing anyway? I mean I am not sorry I started this, because everyone has opinion, I am just sorry that Christian even got involved and for the things he said. I think WORLDteen should ban him from the commenting section.
*tears*
It just makes me sad that you people are yelling at me even though I apologized for calling him half of a pea-sized brain.
AND THE FACT THAT YOU ARE BULLYING MY SISTER CHRISTIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you wont get away with this
@Family P
Like I said I am sorry if I used some really rude words, and I really am, I shouldn't have done that. But I am not sorry for standing up for what I believe is right.
?
What bathroom words?
@Everyone
YES. THANK YOU SO MUCH. Do not apologize for standing up for your friends or the truth, but how you do that is vital.
@Aryelle
I am not yelling at you I am on your side I am sorry this even started. You are the center of it and i feel terrible for you you, Cheylyn, and Asher have taken the hurtful words from Christian.
@Family P
I did politely say im sorry, but you guys keep making it sound like I didnt
@Aryelle D
About Christian "pooping on the conversation" and "butt", Aryelle.
Riley D
I was not talking about you I was saying the other peeps
@Aryelle
Ok thanks
@Aryelle D
Thank you for saying that, Aryelle, I really appreciate you apologizing.
@Family P
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh....
But to be honest he sorta is being a butt, so I guess I'm not sorry about this
@Aryelle D
I'm just asking you to maybe use a different, less offensive word?
@Riley D
We absolutely did not start this. Christian was rude to Aryelle and we responded by turning up the heat. Do we have some responsibility? Yes, we do, but we most definitely did not start it.
wow
.... um imm not gonna get banned um nothing is gonna happen and life is gonna be as normal. 1 thing i say and all of world teen yells at me. such overreacters
oop
okay then, he ruined our conversation
is that better
@Christian B
If we report your hateful comments to the editors you could very well get banned.
mhm
yea but imm not tho
@Christian B
thats what you did to us.
@Aryelle D
Yes, thank you again!!
@Asher
Yeah I guess you are right I guess we can both turn up the heat pretty well can't we? Sorry about getting mad at you for turning it up on that other article!
@Aryelle: Whoa lets not start up the name calling again!
@Christian: Yeah, I bet you could get banned. This is a Christian website and from what I have been hearing from your comments, you should not be on here.
@Christian B
Maybe you should grow up a little before you start commenting again.
Proverbs 15:2 "The tongue of
Proverbs 15:2 "The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness. "right before it says "But a harsh word stirs up anger."
oop
I was just saying that he was saying very rude things and was asking how he would feel if e said those things to him
@David
So am I pouring forth foolishness or am I right in trying to defend what I think right and I really am trying not to use too harsh of words, or is Christian the fool?
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