Scary New Video Shows Thao's Role in Floyd Killing

Floyd family attorney Ben Crump calls it 'beyond disturbing'
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 14, 2020 4:10 PM CDT
New Floyd Video Is 'Beyond Disturbing'
A screen capture from the video.   (YouTube)

A new video shows George Floyd's final moments from a fresh angle—that of onlookers urging police let the man breathe as Officer Tou Thao stands his ground, the New York Post reports. "You're going to let him kill that man in front of you?" an onlooker says to Thao as, a few feet away, Officer Derek Chauvin keeps a knee on Floyd's neck. Other bystanders say things like "you think that's OK?" and "check the pulse," but Thao stands firm, and Floyd's cries of "I can't breathe" slow down to an eventual stop. "This is beyond disturbing, even harder to watch than the first video," writes Floyd family attorney Ben Crump in his Instagram post of the video.

"Tou Thao stood guard as Derek Chauvin MURDERED George Floyd … while witnesses of the execution tried to stand up for JUSTICE, tried to save George’s life!" Crump adds, saying all four ex-officers at the scene must be held accountable for murder. TMZ argues that the video is "especially powerful" because it highlights a "basic problem" among law officers: "that seniority should have no place when the senior officer crosses the line by brutalizing and killing citizens who pose no threat." Meanwhile, WDRB reports that Crump plans to file civil lawsuits on behalf of Floyd's family against "everybody" involved in his death. (More George Floyd stories.)

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