One of the four former Minneapolis cops says he would have done something differently in the brutal death of George Floyd if he had a chance to do it all over again.
Ex-officer Tou Thao has been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter as has fellow ex-officers J. Alexander Lueng and Thomas Lane. Former cop Derek Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
During the 40-minute interview that was released by a Hennepin County court, Thao claims he was nervous of the “superhuman strength” Floyd exhibited due to his alleged ingestion of drugs.
Thao added that he did briefly observe former officer Derek Chauvin’s knee on Floyd’s neck. But Thao said his attention was trained mostly on the growing crowd that was screaming that Floyd was dying.
“Was the crowd letting you know there was a change in Mr. Floyd’s disposition?” an unidentified investigator asked.
Thao: “Yes, they were saying he wasn’t moving,” Thao said.
Investigator: “Did you have concerns about that?”
Thao: “Umm … I was concerned about the crowd. I would hope the other officers would do their jobs.”
Thao simply said it was “not his job” to monitor Floyd’s condition as the last vestiges of life seeped out of him.
Despite the fact that he heard Floyd say “I can’t breathe,” Thao claimed that he didn’t believe Floyd’s life was in danger. He said his training led him to “believe he could actually breathe at the time.”
“He was obviously yelling and talking,” Thao said of Floyd.
However, when Thao learned that Floyd had died, he told the investigators that his “heart sank.”
Investigator: “Do you think you could have done something different to intervene?” an investigator asked.
Thao: “I’m under the belief that you can always do something differently on every single call … I guess I would be more observant toward Floyd.”
Check out the complete interrogation of Thao below:
