A newly surfaced video appears to show not one, but three police officers kneeling on George Floyd in the moments leading up to his death.
The video posted on social media was filmed from a different angle than the original footage that sparked national outrage. As pointed out by NBC News, the 18-second clip captured the other side of the police vehicle where ex-cop Derek Chauvin and two other uniformed officers were seen using their knees to pin Floyd down from the neck, torso, and legs.
Though it's unclear who shot the footage, the NBC News team was able to verify it through the previously released video, Google Street View imagery, and police statements. The outlet pointed to a number of details that supported the clip's authenticity, including the pattern of a storefront wall where Floyd's attempted arrest took place, advertisement signs, and a yellow bike that were also seen in the original video.
The Minneapolis Police Department has yet to comment on the footage.
Chauvin was arrested Friday on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges in connection to Floyd's death on Memorial Day. The three other officers—identified as Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng—who were involved in the incident have not been formally charged despite increasing calls for their arrests.
Floyd was detained by police Monday after a grocery store employee claimed he tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill. The original video, captured by a bystander, showed a handcuffed Floyd on the ground as Chauvin was kneeling on his neck.
"Please, please. I can't breathe," Floyd was heard saying.
According to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, the officer had his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes; He didn't release Floyd until three minutes after he became unresponsive. The 46-year-old man was then transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
"He wasn’t actively resisting, and he was saying he couldn’t breathe," Charles P. Stephenson, a former police officer and FBI agent with expertise in use-of-force tactics, told theAssociated Press. "You have to understand that possibility is there (that Floyd couldn’t breathe), and you release any kind of restriction you might have on an airway immediately."
