MINNEAPOLIS: Derek Chauvin violated Minneapolis Police Department rules and its ethics code on respecting the “sanctity of life” during the deadly arrest of George Floyd last May, the city’s police chief testified at the former officer’s murder trial on Monday.
“It’s not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics and our values’’, said Chief Medaria Arradondo, referring to how Chauvin, who is white, held his knee on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, for more than nine minutes. A bystander’s video of Floyd’s dying moments sparked global protests against police brutality.
Over 3½ hours of testimony, Arradondo disputed the defence’s claim that Chauvin, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges, was following the training he had received in his 19 years on the force.
According to law experts who track police prosecutions, it is highly unusual for a city’s senior police official to testify that one of his former subordinates used excessive force. Chauvin, who along with three other officers was fired by Arradondo a day after the arrest, sat nearby in a suit, taking notes.
In opening statements last week, a prosecutor told the jury that it would hear from Arradondo, who would not “mince words.” Last year, the chief released a statement castigating Chauvin, saying: “This was murder — it wasn’t a lack of training.”
On Monday, he appeared dressed in a blue uniform, placed his chief’s hat on a ledge in front of him with its golden badge visible to the jury, and spoke with his hands clasped in front of him.
“I vehemently disagree that that was appropriate use of force for that situation on May 25’’, he said.
— Reuters
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