Witnesses testify on 2nd day in trial of George Floyd’s murderer

The second day in trial of the white officer over the murder of George Floyd hears testimonies from people who witnessed the death of the unarmed African-American, with onlookers describibg the minutes they were begging Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin to take his knee off his neck

Several bystanders, including an emergency medical technician, testified on Day 2 of the former officer’s murder trial on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old Darnella Frazier, who did not appear on camera but , apologized to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and trying to save his life. Frazier said she witnessed "a terrified and scared man begging for his life." “He didn’t care. It seemed as if he didn’t care what we were saying,” she said through tears.

When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad. I look at my brothers. I look at my cousins, my uncles, because they’re all Black. I have a Black father. I have a Black brother. I have Black friends. And I look at that, and I look at how that could have been one of them. It’s been nights I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life, but it’s like, it’s not what I should have done. It’s what he should have done.

“There was a man being killed,” said Genevieve Hansen, the off-duty firefighter who testified in her dress uniform and said she had emergency medical technician training. "I would have been able to provide medical attention to the best of my abilities. And this human was denied that right.”

“I would have wanted someone to call 911 for the paramedics and fire to come. … I would have checked his airway. I would have been worried about a spinal cord injury because he had so much weight on his neck. I would have opened his airway to check if there are any obstructions, and I would have checked for a pulse. And when I didn’t find a pulse, if that was the case, I would have started compressions.”

Donald Williams II, a mixed martial artist who witnessed Floyd’s death, described that “you could see that he was going through, uh, tremendous pain and you can see it in his face from the grunting. Uh, you can see his eyes slowly, you know, rolling back up in his head and him having his mouth open, um, wide open, slowly with drool and slob and dryness on his mouth.”

He said he called 911 after paramedics took Floyd away, “because I believed I witnessed a murder.” In a recording of the emergency call, Williams could be overheard yelling at the officers: “Y’all is murderers, bro!”

"And, uh, you can see that he’s trying to, you know, gasp for air, you know, and trying to be able to breathe, uh, as he’s down there and trying to move his face, you know, side to side so he can you know, I’m believing, I’m assuming gasp for more air there." 

A high school student who testified on Tuesday afternoon said, " I knew that it was wrong and I couldn’t just walk away, even though I couldn’t do anything about it."

Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd's neck for about 10 minutes on May 25, is already charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, as well as second-degree manslaughter. The third-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 25 years. 

Forty-six-year-old Floyd died as he continually gasped, “please, I can’t breathe,” triggering massive rallies and clashes with police in many cities across the US.

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