George Floyd's bloodied knuckles and shoulder revealed in never-seen-before pics as prosecutors rip Derek Chauvin
Unseen pictures of George Floyd's gruesome injuries following his fatal arrest last year have finally been released to the public. As the Derek Chauvin trial continues, jurors were shown graphic photos of the injuries Floyd sustained when Chauvin tried arresting him on May 25, 2020, and knelt on his neck for nearly 9 minutes, leading to his death.
As prosecutors continue to accuse Chauvin of "betraying the badge", new photo evidence of Floyd's suffering surfaced on Monday morning, April 19, when prosecuting attorney Steve Schleicher gave his closing arguments.
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George Floyd's injuries
The photos of Floyd's injuries show his eyes closed, presumably after being pronounced dead. An extreme close-up of Floyd's injuries shows bruises and abrasions to the left side of his face. In one of the photos, there are several cuts on the knuckles of his right hand, especially the forefinger and the middle one. Another photo shows Floyd's left shoulder with a giant bloody graze. Not much else can be seen of his body, but the gruesome photos are still enough to spark outrage the way the video of Floyd's death had after he was heard begging "I can't breathe", before succumbing to Chauvin's pressure. You can view the photos here.
These photos had previously been shown in court but this is the first time the public is seeing them. In his arguments, Schleicher claimed policing is about "wearing your badge over your heart", but said Chauvin's "badge wasn't in the right place" when he arrested Floyd. "He had to know,” Schleicher said about Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck as the man begged for his life. "He did it on purpose. This was not an accident. He knew better. He just didn’t do better. He betrayed the badge and everything it stood for. It’s not how they’re trained. It’s not following the rules."
'It wasn't policing, it was murder'
The newly released images came with Schleicher's closing arguments after three weeks of the trial that saw 45 expert witnesses — 38 for the prosecution and seven for the defense — as well as eyewitnesses, police officers and medical experts. Chauvin is currently facing charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and third-degree manslaughter. Since all three charges are separate, he could be found guilty of all, some, or none of them.
Claiming that the prosecution has "proved beyond a reasonable doubt" that Chauvin is guilty of all three charges, Schleicher told jurors how they just need to apply common sense and "believe your eyes". He said: "What you saw, you saw,” about the video of Floyd's arrest from last year. “This case is exactly what you thought when you saw it first, when you saw that video. It is exactly that. You can believe your eyes… It’s exactly what you knew. It’s what you felt in your gut. It’s what you now know in your heart. This wasn’t policing; this was murder. The defendant is guilty of all three counts. All of them. And there is no excuse.”
Emphasizing on how Chauvin chose to ignore Floyd's cries and continued kneeling on him long after the man had stopped breathing, showed no pulse and even after the ambulance had arrived, Schleicher said Floyd was “just a man, lying on the pavement, being pressed upon, desperately crying out. A grown man crying out for his mother. A human being." He said Chauvin “heard him, but he just didn’t listen”.
Insisting that Floyd "was not a threat to anyone", Schleicher said “He wasn’t trying to hurt anyone. He wasn’t trying to do anything to anyone. Facing George Floyd that day that did not require one ounce of courage. And none was shown on that day. No courage was required. All that was required was a little compassion and none was shown on that day.”