George Floyd’s Death Was Murder And Not Policing, Says Prosecutor In Closing Argument

• Forty-five year-old Chauvin is charged with murder and manslaughter over Floyd’s May 25, 2020 death, which sparked protests against racial injustice around the world

A prosecutor urged jurors, on Monday, to convict the white former Minneapolis police officer accused of killing George Floyd, saying the death of the 46-year-old Black man, which was captured on video, was a “shocking abuse of authority.”

“This case is exactly what you thought when you saw it first, when you saw that video,” Steve Schleicher said in closing arguments at the high-profile murder trial of Derek Chauvin.

“Use your common sense,” the prosecutor told the jury. “What you saw, you saw.”

“You can believe your eyes,” Schleicher said. “It’s exactly what you knew, it’s what you felt in your gut, it’s what you now know in your heart.”

Read also: Doctor Testifies George Floyd Died From ‘Low-Level Of Oxygen’

He continued: “This wasn’t policing, this was murder. Nine minutes and 29 seconds of shocking abuse of authority.

“The defendant is guilty of all three counts. And there’s no excuse.”

Floyd “asked for help with his very last breath,” the prosecutor recalled, but Chauvin did not provide assistance. “He didn’t follow training, he did not follow the department’s use of force rules, he did not perform CPR.”

“George Floyd was not a threat to anyone,” Schleicher said. “He was not trying to hurt anyone.”

According to AFP, Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, faces a maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge — second-degree  murder.

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