A store manager who accused George Floyd of embezzling $ 20 said he felt guilty
“If I had not just taken the bill, this would have been avoided,” said Christopher Martin, a 19-year-old bank teller at Cup Foods, testifying in court on Wednesday. He stopped working there soon because he said he did not feel safe.
Martin’s testimony comes on the third day of the Cauvin trial as prosecutors called a few people to express their shock and fear at watching Floyd die on May 25, 2020.
Charles McMillian, 61, who witnessed the police handling Floyd, testified Wednesday that he encouraged Floyd to get into the squad car, saying, “you can’t win.” Prosecutors have filmed police body images of Floyd’s arrest in court, in which he reveals that he is claustrophobic, cannot breathe and calls his mother.
The video left McMillian crying and jumping at the witness stand.
“I feel helpless,” he said. “I don’t have a mother either. I understand her.”
Many witnesses who testified that the survivor was guilty of what they did and did not do led to Floyd’s death. On Tuesday, a high school who recorded and shared a video of Cauvin kneeling on Floyd said he lost sleep thinking of what else he could do.
“It was a night when I always apologized to George Floyd for not doing much and not getting involved with the body and not saving his life,” he said. “But that’s not what I should have done, that’s what I should have done.”
Cauvin, 45, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder, one count of murder and one count of murder. His trial comes ten months after Floyd’s death sparked outrage over American racism and aggressive police brutality.
The testimony of those present furthered the prosecution’s opening statement asking the judges to focus on a 9-minute and 29-second video with Cauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
“Don’t believe your eyes it’s murder,” prosecutor Jerry Blackwell said Monday. “Don’t believe your eyes.”
Defense attorney Eric Nelson has argued that the case is more complex than just video. He said Cauvin was following his police training and said the cause of Floyd’s death was a combination of drug use and health problems.
The store clerk alleges that Floyd misappropriated $ 20
George Floyd, right, appears in a surveillance video inside Cup Foods on May 25, 2020.
George Floyd, right, appears in a surveillance video inside Cup Foods on May 25, 2020.
Martin, the cashier, testified that Floyd responded slowly and appeared high when he walked into the store on May 25, 2020. A surveillance video played in court shows Floyd stuffing things in his pockets and carelessly interacting with other customers and employees.
Floyd then bought a pack of cigarettes for a loan of $ 20 which Martin believed was untrue because of the blue color and texture. After careful consideration of the bill, Martin told his supervisor, who twice told Martin and the other employees to get out of Floyd’s car and take him back to the store to settle the matter.
When Floyd did not do so, the supervisor told the employee to call the police – a disastrous call that resulted in Cauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck.
Martin recorded Floyd under Cauvin’s knee but removed the video from his phone that night.
“I just didn’t want to show it or show it to anyone,” he said.
Christopher Belfrey, who came to Cup Foods to collect food, testified that he saw officers approaching Floyd’s car and pointing a gun at the window. Inside his car, he recorded police handcuffing Floyd and later brought him to the side of the road.
“I was not sure what was going on. I did not want to be in such a mess,” Belfrey testified. He said for this reason he drove his car.
An off-duty firefighter said police stopped him from assisting Floyd
Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter, said police would not allow him to provide assistance to George Floyd.
Genevieve Hansen, an off-duty firefighter, said police would not allow him to provide assistance to George Floyd.
Wednesday’s testimony began with questioning Genevieve Hansen, a firefighter in Minneapolis. He testified a few days ago that he was out on his day off last May and came across Floyd struggling to breathe and appearing unconscious under Cauvin’s knee.
He tried to help Floyd and repeatedly asked the police to check his heartbeat, but they refused, leaving him feeling hopeless and helpless.
“I have tried to negotiate calmly, I have tried to strengthen myself, I have committed myself and I have lost hope,” he testified. “I was looking forward to helping.”
Nelson disputed his opening remarks that the people there were shaking a frightening crowd, which hampered the police in carrying out their duties. In a thorough investigation of Hansen and MMA fighter Donald Williams II on Tuesday, he tried to get them to admit that they and the crowd were angry as Floyd slowly died. They insist that they are losing hope, helpless, and anxious.
“I grew up professionally. I stayed in my body,” Williams said. “You can’t paint me to be angry.”