Police officer Derek Chauvin’s use of force against George Floyd was “totally unnecessary,” the longest-serving officer in the Minneapolis Police Department testified on Friday.
Lieutenant Richard Zimmerman, giving evidence for the prosecution on the fifth day of Chauvin’s murder and manslaughter trial, said the sacked 19-year veteran officer had contravened department policies on the use of force.
Zimmerman told prosecutor Matthew Frank that he had reviewed bystander video and police bodycam footage of Floyd’s arrest on May 25 last year by Chauvin and three other officers who are also facing charges.
Photo: Reuters
Asked by Frank what he thought about 45-year-old Chauvin’s use of force against Floyd, Zimmerman said: “Totally unnecessary.”
“Pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time, it’s just uncalled for,” he said.
“I saw no reason why the officers felt they were in danger — if that’s what they felt, and that’s what they would have to feel — to use that kind of force,” he said.
Video shows Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed Floyd for more than nine minutes following the arrest of the 46-year-old black man for passing a counterfeit US$20 bill in a nearby store.
Prosecutors are seeking to prove that Chauvin’s actions led to the death of Floyd, who was lying on his stomach, facedown in the street saying repeatedly: “I can’t breathe.”
Eric Nelson, the former officer’s defense attorney, claims Floyd died due to illegal drug use and underlying medical conditions.
Zimmerman, who joined the Minneapolis Police Department in 1985 and heads the homicide unit, was asked by Frank if he had been trained to “kneel on the neck of someone who is handcuffed behind their back in the prone position?”
“No I haven’t,” he said.
Once a suspect is handcuffed “that person is yours,” he said. “He’s your responsibility. His safety is your responsibility.”
“Once a person is cuffed, the threat level goes down, all the way,” he said. “They’re cuffed. How can they really hurt you?”
Zimmerman also said that once a suspect is in handcuffs “you need to get them out of the prone position as soon as possible because it restricts their breathing.”
“You need to turn them on their side or have them sit up,” he said.
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