Three former policemen on trial for violating George Floyd's civil rights should have intervened to stop fellow officer Derek Chauvin when he had his knee on Floyd's neck, the head of the Minneapolis Police Department's homicide unit has testified.
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"If you see another officer using too much force or doing something illegal, you need to intervene and stop it," Lieutenant Richard Zimmerman said on Thursday at the federal trial for former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao.
He added that the duty can also mean intervening to begin first aid if another officer fails to give it, and that it can mean moving an officer out of the way if necessary.
Asked what Chauvin was doing that was significant to him, Zimmerman replied: "The knee on the neck - the officers should have intervened at that point and stopped it ... It can be deadly."
Kueng, Lane and Thao are accused of depriving Floyd, 46, of his civil rights by failing to give him medical aid while he was handcuffed, facedown with Chauvin's knee pressed onto his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on May 25, 2020. Kueng knelt on Floyd's back and Lane held down his legs while Thao kept bystanders back.
Kueng and Thao are also accused of failing to intervene to stop the killing, which triggered protests worldwide and a reexamination of racism and policing. Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, pointed out during Zimmerman's testimony that his client is not charged with failing to intervene.
Zimmerman said he's been aware of the duty to intervene since he first became a law enforcement officer 41 years ago.
The defence has pointed out that Chauvin was the most senior officer at the scene and argued that the others were trained to obey him. Lane and Kueng were rookies, while Thao had been with the department around eight years.
But rank and seniority don't change the duty to intervene, Zimmerman said. The policy applies to every officer in the city from the chief on down.
Zimmerman said Lane and Kueng told him nothing about having kept Floyd on the ground without rolling him over, about Chauvin keeping his knee on Chauvin's neck, about their being unable to find a pulse, or about Lane performing CPR in the ambulance.
On cross-examination, Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, focused on how Lane is seen on video calling for an ambulance and upgrading the call to lights-and-sirens as Floyd fades; asking if they should roll Floyd over and being rebuffed; and expressing concern that Floyd might be experiencing "excited delirium."
Under cross-examination from Kueng's attorney, Thomas Plunkett, Zimmerman acknowledged telling FBI investigators he thought poorly of Chauvin and that, "I think it's pretty much known throughout the department that he's a jerk."
Zimmerman agreed that a jerk probably shouldn't be a field training officer, as Chauvin had been to Kueng.
Chauvin, who is white, pleaded guilty in December to a federal civil rights charge.
Lane, Kueng and Thao also face a separate state trial in June on charges alleging that they aided and abetted murder and manslaughter.
Australian Associated Press
