911 dispatcher, bystanders raised concerns over officer treatment of George Floyd

The Minneapolis Police Department has released audio and transcripts from a 911 dispatcher and two bystanders who called in with concerns as officers detained George Floyd before his death last month.

In the audio, an unidentified 911 dispatcher told a police sergeant that she was watching Floyd’s arrest on live video and called it “different.”

“I don’t know, you can call me a snitch if you want to, but we have the cameras up for 320’s call,” the dispatcher says.

“Um, I don’t know if they had used force or not. They got something out of the back of the squad, and all of them sat on this man. So, I don’t know if they needed you or not, but they haven’t said anything to me yet,” the dispatcher continues.  

“Yeah, they haven’t said anything, unless it’s just a takedown which doesn’t count,” the sergeant responded, adding that he would “find out.”

“We don’t get to ever see it. So when we see it, we’re just like ‘whoa.; Ah, well? It looks a little different,” the dispatcher then said. 

Floyd died last month after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest. In bystander video, Floyd can be heard pleading with the officer and saying that he can’t breathe. 

Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were at the arrest have been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.

Minneapolis police on Monday also released two 911 call transcripts from May 25, the date of Floyd’s death. An unidentified off-duty firefighter told dispatchers: “I literally watched police officers not take a pulse and not do anything to save a man, and I am a first responder myself, and I literally have it on video camera.”

“I just happened to be on a walk so, this dude, this, they f—ing killed him,” the firefighter continued.

Another person also called 911 and told dispatchers that an officer “pretty much just killed this guy that wasn’t resisting arrest.” The caller also requested to speak to a supervisor at Minneapolis’s 3rd police precinct.

At least seven Minneapolis police officers have resigned amid ongoing protests in the city and across the country over police brutality and racial inequality after Floyd’s death, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. At least seven others were also in the process of filing separation paperwork as of Sunday, the department confirmed.

–This report was updated at 3:48 p.m.