George Floyd and the now-fired Minneapolis Police Department officer Derek Chauvin both worked security at a bar in the city as recently as last year, according to a former owner.
"Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open," Maya Santamaria, who owned the building that houses the El Nuevo Rodeo club, told regional outlet KSTPon Thursday. "They were working together at the same time, it's just that Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside."
Per the report, Santamaria owned the building for nearly 20 years but sold the venue "within the last few months."
Floyd and Chauvin are said to have had overlapping schedules due to popular music nights, though Santamaria made it clear she couldn't say whether they knew each other, as the venue would often employ as many as "a couple dozen" guards. She also said she didn't initially recognize the two in the footage of Floyd's widely criticized and protested arrest.
In the footage, Chauvin—who still hasn't been charged in Floyd's death—is seen pinning Floyd to the ground using his knee despite Floyd telling the officers he is unable to breathe. The footage, as well as the department's handling of the public narrative surrounding Floyd's death, spurred protests that continues across multiple cities.
During a live broadcast early Friday, a CNN crew was arrested and later released while covering the protests in Minneapolis. A statement from the network said the arrest marked "a clear violation of their First Amendment rights."
