A new video shows Minneapolis police officer Tou Thao ignoring the desperate pleas of bystanders to save George Floyd as the father gasped for air under officer Derek Chauvin’s knee for almost nine minutes.
The horrifying clip, which was released by the civil rights attorney representing the victim’s family, has a wider angle than the first video shared last month and shows bystanders asking officer Thao to help Floyd.
Atty. Ben Crump warned in the caption: “This is beyond disturbing, even harder to watch than the first video.”
He added: “Tou Thao stood guard as Derek Chauvin MURDERED George Floyd … while witnesses of the execution tried to stand up for JUSTICE, tried to save George’s life!
“The protest of those bystanders, who refused to just stand by and let it happen, has reverberated around the world — fueling our protest against injustice and police brutality!! 8 minutes 46 seconds.”
The attorney called for Chauvin, Thao, and two other cops, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane, to be convicted of murder.
He wrote: “The four ex-officers MUST be convicted of MURDER for this hideous atrocity! They MUST all be held accountable!”
In the disturbing new footage, a woman and a man can be heard telling the officers to check Floyd’s pulse.
“You think that’s okay? Check his pulse!” a man yelled while Thao argued with a woman. “He has not moved not one time!”
The man also asked officer Thao: “You’re going to let him kill that man in front of you?”
A woman also shouted: “Tell me what his pulse is right now!” while another woman yelled: “Did they just fc***** kill him?”
People gathered and many are heard yelling: “He’s not moving!” and “Get off of his neck!”
But despite their pleas, Thao did not try to get Chauvin off the father’s neck and continued to argue with the bystanders.
Emergency services arrived later and lifted Floyd’s body onto a stretcher.
All four officers have all been fired from the police department.
Protesters erupted across the United States as thousands of demonstrators march the streets, holding placards that read ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ‘stop defending a broken system.’
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!
Replaced!