Officer Thomas Lane's lawyer blames George Floyd for his own death: 'He should have followed police orders'
The lawyer for one of the four Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd's death has pinned the blame on the 46-year-old truck driver and claimed he would not have died had he followed orders.
Floyd died on Memorial Day after officers Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane confronted him in front of a shop in southern Minneapolis over reports that he had used a counterfeit $20 bill to purchase cigarettes.
The 46-year-old was subsequently dragged out his car and made to lie on the ground, following which Chauvin had knelt on his neck for close to nine minutes. In a heartbreaking video captured by witness Darnella Frazier, Chauvin could be seen gasping, 'I can't breathe,' and calling for his mother before he lost consciousness, became unresponsive, and died.
However, speaking on Cuomo Prime Time, Earl Gray, the lawyer for Lane suggested Floyd shared some blame for his death and that he should have been more compliant when the officers tried to get him out of his car.
Gray said Floyd "didn't show his hands" and "put his right hand down below the seat, which is clear evidence... that he might be going to grab a gun or hide drugs."
"They then took Mr. Floyd out of his vehicle because they were going to arrest him and he resisted leaving his vehicle, they finally got him out of his vehicle," he continued. "It wasn’t a violent resistance but it wasn’t a kind of non-resistance that an individual should do when police officers are arresting him."
"He should get out of his vehicle and follow the orders of the police officers. He didn’t do that."
Gray said Floyd "resisted" throughout his arrest, including when they tried to handcuff him. He shared that the 46-year-old refused to get into the officers' squad car and crawled out from the other side when he was forced in.
A spokesman for the Minneapolis police department had similarly claimed that Floyd had "physically resisted" the arrest. However, MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that video footage from inside a car behind Floyd's vehicle shows one of the officers wrestling with him and trying to force him out. The other officer then walks over to the driver's side of the car to assist in ejecting Floyd from the vehicle and handcuffing him.
Gray revealed he had "viewed the body camera throughout" the altercation and was confident it would prove his client's innocence.
"If they saw the full body camera on my client, I believe that they would have a different opinion, particularly if they have any knowledge of what police procedure and how they should proceed on a felony arrest," he said, adding this was doubly true "particularly when the individual they are arresting is under the influence of some kind of drug, which was clearly evident in this arrest situation."
Lane is currently facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, as well as aiding and abetting manslaughter. He is being held on a $1 million bond and, if convicted, faces up to 40 years in prison.
His family has set up a website where they hope to collect donations that will go towards his defense fund.