UPDATED 8/11, 2:20 p.m. ET: Bodycam footage showing Minneapolis police officers arresting George Floyd was released to the public, USA Today reports. It was ordered to be released by a Hennepin County judge.
The full video, which is disturbing to watch, can be viewed here.
See original story below.
In newly surfaced bodycam footage of George Floyd's fatal arrest in Minneapolis in May, he can be heard pleading for the officers to not shoot him.
Shared by British tabloid the Daily Mail, the footage comes from two of the officers charged with Floyd's murder, Thomas Lane and Alex Kueng. It was originally viewed at the Hannepin County courthouse last month, but restrictions prohibited viewers from recording or publicly distributing the disturbing footage.
In the video, Lane can be seen approaching Floyd's SUV on May 25 to knock on his window. He ordered Floyd to show his hands, but when he didn't comply with the officer they pulled a gun on him. "Please don't shoot me, please," Floyd can be heard saying when a gun is pointed at his head by Lane. "Please, please don't shoot me. I just lost my mom, man." Lane then said, "Put your hands up there... Put your [muted] hands up there." At one point, Floyd's ex-girlfriend Shawanda Hill can be heard suggesting to officers that Floyd was afraid of the police.
Floyd told Lane he didn't do anything wrong as he's dragged out of the vehicle and handcuffed. He was then led to a police car, at which point he informed the officers he's claustrophobic. "I'll roll down the window," an officer chimed in. "Please, I'm not trying to win. I'm not a bad guy, man. I'm not a bad guy," Floyd told officers as he expressed his discomfort upon being ushered into the vehicle. Floyd is then wrestled to the ground, pleading with officers, "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."
The video is part of the murder case against the officers responsible. Lane, Kueng, Derek Chauvin, and Tou Thao were all fired and then later charged for their role in Floyd's death.
Ben Crump, an attorney for the Floyd family, released a statement after the footage was leaked.
"The more video evidence you see, the more unjustifiable George Floyd's torture and death at the hands of the police becomes," Crump said in the statement. "Although the allegation against George was for a non-violent offense involving a $20 bill, the police officers approached him with guns drawn, simply because he was a Black man. As this video shows, he never posed any threat. The officers' contradictions continue to build. If not for the videos, the world might never have known about the wrongs committed against George Floyd."
