A criminal complaint against Derek Chauvin, the main suspect in the death of George Floyd, revealed that the policeman kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, nearly three minutes of this period was after he lost consciousness.
The 46-year-old victim was gasping for air as he laid on the ground, handcuffed and knelt on by Chauvin. Heartbroken witnesses begged the officer to let him go but to no avail.
Though the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation” have been discovered but it urged that such a way of restraining is “inherently dangerous” and especially for someone like Floyd who had coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.
