Prosecution in George Floyd civil rights trial rests its case

Federal prosecutors rested their case in the trial of three former Minneapolis Police Department officers who are charged with violating George Floyd’s civil rights, The Associated Press reported. 

On Monday, the prosecution brought on their last witness, Darnella Frazier, onto the stand ,where she testified that she knew Floyd needed medical care when he became unresponsive, saying, “Over time, he kind of just became weaker and eventually just stopped making sounds overall.”

Frazier, who was just 16 at the time, garnered international media attention in the summer of 2020 after filming former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on the neck of Floyd for more than nine minutes. 

The video shocked the world, spurring mass protests and fueling ongoing conservation about police brutality and social injustice in the U.S.

Frazier also recounted on the stand how one of the former officers, Tou Thao, was protecting and patrolling the area while Chauvin was kneeling on Floyd’s neck, saying Floyd “was the only one who needed protection at that moment.”

“I didn’t see George Floyd resist at all. The only thing I saw him do was really try to find comfort in his situation … try to breathe and get more oxygen,” Frazier said, according to the AP. 

Thao and former Minneapolis officers J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were charged with violating the civil rights of Floyd and failing to provide him medical care. 

Chauvin was convicted of murdering Floyd last April. Two months later, he was sentenced to more than 22 years in prison for the crime. 

Both Thao and Kueng told the judge they plan to testify in the trial and Lane is still in discussions with his attorney, Earl Gray, about his decision to take the stand. 

Federal prosecutors spent three weeks presenting their case. The defense attorneys are expected to start presenting witnesses on Tuesday, the AP noted.