The daily beast
George Floyd’s brother collapses on the booth: he was the leader in our house.
Brandon Bell / Getty George Floyd’s younger brother burst into tears on Monday at the booth when he remembered the last time he saw his sibling at their mother’s funeral in 2018. Mom, “over and over again,” said Philonise Floyd, 39, before the Hennepin District Court jury on Monday. “And I didn’t know what to tell him because I was in pain too. We all hurt. And he just kissed her and just kissed her. He didn’t want to leave the coffin. “Two years later, his older brother died after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin held his knee to Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes as he pleaded that he could not breathe and bystanders begged for mercy. The 45-year-old chauvin is currently on trial for second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Three other officers – Tou Thao, Thomas K. Lane and J. Alexander Kueng – will be tried in August for aiding and abetting second-degree murder in the commission of a crime and for aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. Pulmonologist: Chauvin’s knee on Floyd was like removing a lung. Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s defense attorney, has argued that Floyd’s death was due in part to health problems and drugs – and that his client was simply doing what he was trained to do during his 19-year career. “Several current and former Minneapolis police officers, as well as experts in the use of force, testified on behalf of the government that not only did Chauvin fail to follow protocol during the May 25 arrest, but that his actions were” completely unnecessary “by the latest witnesses Prosecution, Floyd’s brother, gave the jury a sense of who Floyd was as a person. Philonise broke down at times, saying his older brother loved playing Double Dribble on Nintendo and was “the leader in our household” – but a terrible cook. “He would always make sure we had our clothes for school,” said Philonise. “He made sure that we all go to school on time. And like I told you, George couldn’t cook. But he will make sure you have a snack or something in the morning. But he – he was one of those people in the church who, if they had a church outside, went to church just because he was there. Nobody would go out there until they saw him. And he was like a person everyone in the church loved. “He just knew how to make people feel better,” he added. But after her mother died in 2018, Floyd struggled to move on, his brother said. Philonise said the “great mother’s boy” had a special relationship with her mother and taught his family to treat her with respect. That relationship was evident on May 25th when Floyd called his mother several times when Chauvin was pinning him on the floor outside in CupFoods. Over the past two weeks, several bystanders have emotionally described to the jury how they repeatedly asked Chauvin to remove his knee and check Floyd’s pulse during the arrest. Those witnesses included an off duty Minneapolis firefighter and EMT – who said she was ignored after she repeatedly offered to help – and an MMA fighter trying to explain that Chauvin’s stranglehold was interrupting Floyd’s traffic. Several teenagers also testified asking officers to stop when Floyd “gasped”. Chauvin “absolutely” violated guidelines by kneeling on Floyd: Police Commissioner Pennep County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, who wrote the controversial account of Floyd’s death, testified Friday that police reluctance “was only more than” Floyd could take. Baker wouldn’t rule out the role of drugs and heart problems in Floyd’s death, however, and gave Chauvin’s defense team a glimmer of hope after a devastating week of evidence in which the Minneapolis police chief said the former police officer was “absolutely” injured, according to Protocol and three renowned medical experts said Floyd died of oxygen starvation as a result of police actions alone. The cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Rich testified Monday that Floyd died of “cardiopulmonary arrest” because of low oxygen levels after being restrained. He said that while Floyd suffered from anxiety, substance abuse and high blood pressure, she had an “exceptionally strong” heart and no threatening conditions. “I can say with high medical certainty that George Floyd did not die of a primary heart event and he did not die of a drug overdose,” he said, later adding that he saw no evidence “that a fentanyl overdose was denied Caused Mr. Floyd’s death. “” I believe Mr Floyd’s death was totally preventable. During the cross-examination, Nelson questioned Floyd’s high blood pressure – and did he think Floyd would have survived the arrest if he “just got into the back of the police car?” “Had he not been held in the way, I think he would have that day survived, “replied Rich. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner previously concluded that Floyd had died of cardiac arrest from restraint and neck compression, and also found that Floyd had heart disease and fentanyl on his system. An independent report commissioned by Floyd’s family, which will not be shown in court, concluded that he died of strangulation from pressure on his back and neck. Both reports stated that Floyd’s death was murder. Read more at The Daily Beast. Do you have a tip? Submit it to The Daily Beast here. Get our top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now! Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside delves deeper into the stories that matter to you. Learn more.
