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FROM THE COURT: A court drawing of Derek Chauvin as he watches a video of the incident he is now charged with. Photo: JANE ROSENBERG / REUTERS
Eight minutes and 46 seconds. A timeslot that has earned its own Wikipedia page following George Floyd’s fatal arrest. It should have been nine minutes and 29 seconds.
It emerged on the first day of the trial against police officer Derek Chauvin, accused of the murder of George Floyd.
An event that literally set the United States on fire 10 months ago.
Across the United States, in the weeks after the death of the African American Floyd, after having the knee of the white police officer Chauvin around his neck, there were demonstrations against police violence. “8:46” became a symbol of this brutality. It was the moment when the knee pressed against the neck.
Not only does “Eight Minutes 46 Seconds” have its own Wikipedia page, but several bookmarks have used this time slot as well. Most recently, when Floyd’s family sat on one knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds, just before the trial began this week.
KEEP ON THE KNEES: Family members of George Floyd, his attorney Ben Crump and civil rights activist Al Sharpton were among those who sat on their knees for 8 minutes and 46 seconds before the trial began this week. Photo: CRAIG LASSIG / EPA
9.29 in three parts
But the time interval does not match. State Attorney Jerry Blackwell repeated this several times in his opening proceedings when the trial began yesterday in Minneapolis.
-These are the three most important figures in this case, said the lawyer.
There is evidence from the body camera of the police officers that it has caused an increase in the time interval.
According to CNN, Blackwell divided the nine minutes and 29 seconds into three parts: four minutes and 45 seconds where Floyd called for help. 53 seconds where he struggled with his arms because he had a discomfort. And three minutes and 51 seconds where there was no reaction from him.
George Floyd died. Derek Chauvin is charged with murder.
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The latter’s lawyer did not protest the new time interval.
“The evidence is about things much more important than nine minutes and 29 seconds,” said Eric Nelson.
He believes that cross-examination of witnesses and documents will prove his client’s innocence.
Tears on the witness stand
Nelson is probably right that it matters little to the outcome of the case whether it was eight minutes and 46 seconds, or nine minutes and 29 seconds. Or for that matter, seven minutes and 46 seconds, which is also a time interval in which it has been operated.
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DEMONSTRATION: Protesters in Minneapolis demand that Derek Chauvin be convicted of murder. Photo: OCTAVIO JONES / Reuters
What, for example, the witnesses will say in court probably plays a much more important role. Yesterday, several of them sat on the witness stand. Among other things, the teenager who filmed the video of Chauvin sitting with his knee on Floyd’s neck. A video that went viral and that you can see below.
Darnella Frazier was only 17 years old when she saw the arrest of George Floyd. According to the Washington Post, she has since felt anxious and guilty that she had done nothing more to stop what was happening. With tears in his eyes, he told the jury that it could have been his own father, or brother, or some of his friends.
– There have been nights when I have been awake and I apologized to George for not doing more and for not physically intervening and for not saving his life. But this is not about what I should have done. It’s about what he should have done, he said, referring to Chauvin, who was sitting just a few feet away in the courtroom.
Frazier said he started filming because he felt that what happened to Floyd was not right.
LIFE LOST: George Floyd was arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit dollar bill. Photo: Christopher Harris / Christoper Harris
Pushed away
Another who testified yesterday was firefighter Genevieve Hansen. She wasn’t at work that day, but she was an occasional passerby. She also shed tears on the witness stand as she recounted how she begged the police to check Floyd’s pulse. Something you can see and hear in the video at the end of this case.
Chauvin and the other police officers on the scene did not listen to her. Instead, one of them pushed her away as Chauvin sat down.
– As I remember it, he had a hand in his pocket. He looked so comfortable, he said.
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TEARS: Genevieve Hansen on the witness stand Tuesday. Photo: Court TV Pool
Alyssa Funari, 18, described what it was like to see Floyd “roll his eyes in the back of his head” before he stopped moving.
– It was difficult because I felt like there was really nothing I could do. He knew that time was running out, that he was going to die.
She also cried through her diploma and had to take several breaks to recover.
– He does not care
Derek Chauvin kept looking away from the screen when multiple mobile videos were shown of him with his knee pressed against George Floyd’s neck, but he showed no emotion whatsoever, writes the Washington Post.
DEFENDANT: Derek Chauvin was the man who pressed his knee against George Floyd’s neck. Photo: Police
According to Darnella Frasier, she also showed no emotion that day in May last year. Several witnesses at the scene called for him to have his knee removed from his neck.
– He stared at us, looked at us. He had that cold, soulless look. He does not care. He didn’t care what we said, Frasier explained.
Another witness, Donald Williams II, put it bluntly:
– I mean, I witnessed a murder.
That George Floyd died after having Derek Chauvin’s knee pressed against his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds is therefore indisputable. It remains to be seen whether he will be convicted of murder for that act.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
