Video released of previous George Floyd arrest in 2019
The judge presiding over the George Floyd case has allowed the release of a 2019 video showing a prior interaction Floyd had with police, granting the request from a lawyer representing one of the police officers charged in connection with Floyd's death.
The video shows an encounter between police and Floyd while he was a passenger in an unlicensed vehicle, one year before the highly publicised killing that sparked massive protests and riots across the United States.
Similar to the most recent incident, Floyd pleads with the officer not to shoot him as he approaches the car. The officer replies to Floyd, telling him "I don't plan on shooting you."
Floyd is then told several times to put his hands on the dashboard of the car.
As police become more aggressive, one officer shouts "I'm not going to shoot you, put your hands on the dash!"
Eventually, Floyd complies with the officer's requests, this time to to place his hands on his head, when another approaches the car from the driver side. The second officer then yells at Floyd, "open your mouth, spit out what you've got!" before threatening to use a Taser.
Police then get Floyd out of the vehicle, before handcuffing and searching him.
"Was there anything in it?" one officer asks, referring to something Floyd allegedly had on him. "Yeah, a bunch of pills," the other officer responds.
Public court records in Minnesota show no charges were laid against Floyd for the 2019 stop.
Attorney Earl Gray, who represents officer Thomas Lane, says the 2019 video "shows a false narrative by the state. The state is portraying Mr. Floyd as somebody that he isn't, and if you see the 2019 video and compare [it to the 2020 video] they're almost identical."
Four now-former Minneapolis police officers are charged in the death of Floyd.
Update: An activist confronted attorney Earl Gray while he was speaking to the news media and two people were arrested after the hearing in the #GeorgeFloyd case. https://t.co/7Vr42fT2m9
— Star Tribune (@StarTribune) October 15, 2020
Derek Chauvin, the officer who was seen kneeling on Floyd in the 2020 video, is charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Officers J. Alexander Kueng, Tou Thao and Thomas Lane are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
The full 16 minute video of the 2019 incident can be seen below, courtesy WCCO-CBS Minnesota:
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