Lt. Richard Zimmerman is the longest-serving police officer on the Minneapolis Police Force and said Friday that Derek Chauvin, the man who is on trial for killing George Floyd after pressing his knee into the back of his neck for more than nine minutes, had violated department policy.
Zimmerman’s testimony came on the 5th day of the trial, as he took the stand to say that what Mr. Chauvin had done was “completely unnecessary”.
“Pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time, it’s just uncalled for,” Lieutenant Zimmerman said, who joined the department in 1985.
Lt. Richard Zimmerman: “It’s Just Uncalled For” On Chauvin’s Use Of His Knee On George Floyd’s Neck
Zimmerman’s comments followed Mr. Chauvin’s supervisor, who also criticized his actions.
Lt. Zimmerman also testified that officers were taught to move handcuffed people out of the prone position as quickly as possible and that officers have never been trained to kneel on people’s necks while they were handcuffed and lying on their stomachs. He said, “You need to get them off their chest. If you’re lying on your chest, that’s constricting your breathing even more.”
This comes after a long 5-day trial and every day it looks worse for Mr. Chauvin. It’s obvious he was not in his right to kneel on Floyd’s neck the way he did, and after this testimony, it may just seal his fate.
What do you think? Will Chauvin be charged to the fullest extent? Let us know in the comments below.
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