George Floyd case: ‘Because I believe I witnessed a murder” | Editorial

A jury will decide the guilt of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder in the death last May of George Floyd. But the second day of Chauvin’s trial on Tuesday was remarkable for the searing experience that Floyd’s death had on those who watched it happen. It captured the helplessness and frustration that many Americans struggle with in their dealings with law enforcement.

Donald Williams, 33, a martial artist, was drawn to the commotion outside the Cup Foods convenience store, where police had responded to reports that Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, had passed a counterfeit $20 bill. Williams became upset on seeing a white officer with his knee on Floyd’s neck. So he dialed 911.

“I believe I witnessed a murder,” he testified Tuesday. “Yeah, I felt the need to call the police on the police.”

Asked why he didn’t simply talk to the officers, Williams responded: “We just didn’t have no connection. I spoke to them, but not on a connection of a human being relationship.”

Genevieve Hansen, a 27-year-old firefighter, was off-duty and taking a walk when she came upon the scene, finding Floyd restrained on the ground and unresponsive. She realized something was wrong and pleaded with police to allow her to render aid. “I tried calm reasoning, I tried to be assertive, I pled and was desperate,” she testified. But an officer waved her away.

“He said something along the lines of, if you really are a Minneapolis firefighter, you would know better than to get involved. … First, I was worried that he wasn’t going to believe me and not let me help. And I also … that’s … that’s not right. I mean, that’s exactly what I should have done. There was no medical assistance on scene. And I got there and I could have given medical assistance. That’s exactly what I should have done...”

Some of the most heartbreaking testimony came from Darnella Frazier, who was 17 at the time, and taking her 9-year-old cousin on a snack run to Cup Foods. She saw what was happening and pulled out her phone. The video spawned a global movement.

“I heard George Floyd saying, ‘I can’t breathe. Please get off of me. I can’t breathe.’ He, he cried for his mom. He was in pain. It seemed like he knew. It seemed like he knew it was over for him. He was terrified.”

And to Frazier, Floyd wasn’t some anonymous victim. “When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at my brothers, I look at my cousins, my uncles, because they are all Black,” she said. “I look at that, and I look at how that could have been one of them.”

And those images haven’t gone away.

“It’s been nights I’ve stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life.”

Or as Alyssa Nicole Funari, another teenager at the scene, who also testified, put it: “It was difficult because I felt like there wasn’t really anything I could really do as a bystander. I was powerless there.”

The trial is in the early stages, and whether the state makes its case remains to be seen. But Floyd’s death has created other casualties. Calling cops on cops. Traumatizing teenagers for life. Marginalizing residents in their own neighborhoods. These aren’t the building blocks of healthy lives or communities. But they’re a too-common reality in 21st century America.

Editorials are the institutional voice of the Tampa Bay Times. The members of the Editorial Board are Editor of Editorials Graham Brink, Sherri Day, Sebastian Dortch, John Hill, Jim Verhulst and Chairman and CEO Paul Tash. Follow @TBTimes_Opinion on Twitter for more opinion news.