Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified in court that former cop Derek Chauvin “absolutely” violated departmental policy when he knelt on George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes on Memorial Day 2020.
“Clearly, when Mr. Floyd was no longer responsive and even motionless, to continue to apply that level of force to a person — proned-out, handcuffed behind their back — that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy, it is not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values,” Arradondo said in court on Monday, April 5, 2021, according to MSNBC.
Chauvin is facing charges of second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The testimony given Monday by Arradondo — the first Black police chief in Minneapolis history — is consistent with what he said in June 2020 about Chauvin’s alleged use of deadly force. “This was murder — it wasn’t a lack of training,” Arradondo said at that time, according to NBC News. “The officers knew what was happening — one intentionally caused it, and the others failed to prevent it.”
Arradondo’s appearance in court follows the testimony of Minneapolis Police Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who told jurors last week that Chauvin’s chosen manner to subdue Floyd was “totally unnecessary.”
This also comes after the testimony of an emergency room physician, Dr. Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, who testified that he believed Floyd most likely had died of asphyxiation rather than an overdose of drugs, The Associated Press reported.
Moreover, the police chief testified that Chauvin did not follow proper training on several occasions with respect to the death of Floyd. He said:
- Chauvin applied more than the allowable amount of pressure on someone’s neck in order to subdue a suspect;
- Chauvin continued to apply that pressure even after Floyd went silent, motionless and unconscious.
- Chauvin failed to render mandatory first aid to Floyd after it was clear he was hurt and was no longer a threat to the officers.
Flip the page to view Arradondo’s testimony in court.
