Officer charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights says he realized severity of situation when he saw Floyd's face: "He didn't look good"
CBSN
A former Minneapolis police officer charged with violating George Floyd's civil rights testified Monday that he thought Floyd was doing OK while handcuffed and facedown on the street with Officer Derek Chauvin's knee pressed to his neck — until paramedics arrived and turned Floyd over.
Thomas Lane, 38, said during his federal trial that that was the first time he had seen Floyd's face since police had put the 46-year-old Black man on the ground while struggling to arrest him. Before that, as he held Floyd's legs, he thought he saw Floyd's chest rise and fall, Lane testified, and believed Floyd still had blood pressure based on the appearance of veins in his arm.
"What went through your mind when you saw his face there, once he was tipped over?" Lane's attorney, Earl Gray, asked.