A video of now fired Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao during the death of George Floyd is likely to be a key piece of evidence in his trial.
The video shows Thao holding back the crowd as former police officer Derek Chauvin continued to press his knee on Floyd’s neck despite Floyd not appearing to be moving or even conscious.
“Check the pulse, Bro. He has not moved. Check the pulse, a Black man implores Thao.
“Did they f*cking kill him, bro?” asked a woman.
“Get off him, what are you doing,” screamed another person toward Chauvin.
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Thao faces charges along with fellow now-fired officers Thomas Lane and J Alexander Kueng of aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin faces second degree murder.
During the four minute video, Thao’s priority seems to be crowd control and keeping the increasingly angry crowd back.
About two minutes into the video, paramedics can be seen in the background preparing their gurney to take Floyd away in an ambulance.
“Get off of his neck,” the Black man screams at Chauvin.
“You going to let him kill that man in front of you? the same bystander says to Thao.
“The fact that you guys aren’t checking his pulse and doing compressions on him,” a women said incredibly before stopping.
After paramedics arrive, Thao is seen pushing back a man away from the scene.
“They just really killed that man,” a woman says.
“They just really killed that man,” the Black man repeats
“If he’s not dead, he’s close to death. It’s crazy,” says a woman.
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