Data News Weekly Staff Edited Report
In a new twist in the George Floyd case, a British media company published segments of two leaked body-worn camera videos showing the events that led up to the death of Mr. Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
The Daily Mail published an article on its website accompanied by the videos. It showed about 10 minutes of video from former officer Thomas Lane’s bodycam and about 18 minutes from former Officer J. Alexander Kueng’s bodycam.
The two former officers’ bodycam videos were made available for public viewing inside the Hennepin County Courthouse in mid-July but were prohibited from being recorded or publicly distributed.
It’s unclear how the Daily Mail got the videos. The article said they were “leaked” to the company.
The videos published by the Daily Mail appeared to have been recorded on a device while they were played on a laptop in a courthouse conference room.
A coalition of local and national media companies, including the Star Tribune, filed a motion in July seeking their immediate release. Cahill took the issue under advisement and has not issued a decision on the matter.
The videos, which were viewed by Star Tribune reporters in July, showed that Floyd was given no explanation for why he was being questioned before Lane pointed a gun and swore at him, touched him multiple times and forced him out of his vehicle into the street.
Kueng, Lane and former officer Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s May 25th death.
Their former colleague, Derek Chauvin, is charged with second-degree murder, third degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the case. Prosecutors have said Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck for nearly 8 minutes, but Kueng’s video showed that it was about 9 minutes and 30 seconds.
Kueng and Lane had responded to Cup Foods on a report that Floyd had allegedly used a counterfeit $20 bill. They arrested Floyd; Chauvin and Thao arrived later to help them.
The bodycam videos and a video recorded by a bystander showed that Floyd repeatedly told the officers he couldn’t breathe, and that several bystanders pleaded with them to stop, but were ignored.
This case was the catalyst for protests around the globe regarding the issue of systemic racism and police reform.
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