Video released Friday shows one of the former officers of the Minneapolis police department charged with the death in the death of George Floyd, who told investigators that his job was to look at the ‘hostile’ audience – not the deadly arrest.
The one-hour, 40-minute volunteer interview of former MPD officer Tou Thao was recorded eight days after Floyd’s death on May 25. As de Star Tribune remarked, Thao did not express much emotion in his descriptions of the actions of him and three officers on the scene.
He repeatedly expressed his concern about the “loud and hostile” circumstances in the neighborhood that witnessed the incident, but referred only once to Floyd’s well-being to describe him as appearing to be on drugs and resistance to arrest was.
Thao described how he kept angry circumstances at bay when other former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Derek Chauvin restrained Floyd’s back and legs over a call about his alleged use of a $ 20 counterfeit bill.
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“When the crowd started to grow and become loud and hostile towards us, I decided to forget [monitoring] traffic and place me between the club and the officers … and just spend most of my attention looking at the club – make sure they do not slander us if bulls escape us, because the officers are on the ground are defensive, ”Thao told investigators with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension [BCA].
Thao said his fellow officers became visibly tired at the time of the arrest and he never mentioned Chauvin’s specific restraint methods, so Floyd said he could not breathe or that several circumstances urged the men to see why he eventually stopped moving.
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“They are trying to gain control of his body,” Thao said. “I could tell the officers were tired on the ground. Everyone was breathing hard …” He added that Floyd resisted getting into the squadron and putting himself on the street.
Thao said the street corner for the Cup Foods where the arrest took place was a bond hangout that is “particularly hostile” to Minneapolis police. Thao is heard telling investigators that he first realized the depth of the situation when firefighters and ambulances arrived on the scene to provide medical attention. He said Kueng, who was only on the job on his third day, also did not seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.
“I don’t think he realized the seriousness of the situation – potential situation,” Thao said, before asking questions about why there was such an urgency to arrest Floyd for such a petty crime. “First, um, this was not our call. We were just backup officers, we do not – I do not have the background information on what happened before we arrived.”
As de Star Tribune reported, it’s an hour into the video before Thao discusses what Floyd said when he retired. “He said he could not breathe, but then of course he cried and talked.”
Thao acknowledged that Chauvin “wrestled with the boy,” and that he had never used “the restraint technique” that kept Floyd’s shoulder, neck and head in the ground.
The former officer was then asked how he felt when he learned Floyd had died as a result of the arrest and aggressive restraint methods.
“I do not want anyone to die,” Thao said. “It was kind of a gloomy moment, especially for me. My heart ached.” He said he did not control Floyd’s health or vitality because his job was purely to “maintain scene safety.”
Newsweek reached out to the BCA for any additional comments on the interview Saturday afternoon.
Screenshot: Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
