Med examiner blames police pressure for Floyd’s death

The chief medical examiner who ruled George Floyd’s death a homi- cide testified Friday that the way police held him down and compressed his neck “was just more than Mr. Floyd could take,” given the con- dition of his heart.

Dr. Andrew Baker, the Hennepin County medical exam- iner, took the stand at the murder trial of former Offi- cer Derek Chauvin for pressing his knee on or close to Floyd’s neck for what pros- ecutors said was as much as 9 1/2 minutes as the 46-yearold Black man lay pinned to the pavement last May.

Asked about his finding that police “subdual, restraint and neck compression” led to Floyd’s death, Baker said that Floyd had severe under- lying heart disease and an enlarged heart that needed more oxygen than normal to function, as well as nar- rowing of two heart arteries.

Baker said being involved in a scuffle raises adrenaline, which asks the heart to beat even faster and supply more oxygen.

“And in my opinion, the law enforcement subdual, restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by vir- tue of that, those heart conditions,” the medical exam- iner said.

Other medical experts have gone further, testifying that Floyd ultimately died from a lack of oxygen because of the way he was restrained on his stomach with his hands cuffed behind his back, his face jammed against the ground and Chauvin’s knee in his neck.

Chauvin, 45, is charged with murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death May 25. Floyd was arrested after being accused of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.

Bystander video of Floyd crying t hat he couldn’t breathe as onlookers yelled at the white officer to get off him sparked protests and scattered violence around the U.S.

A Chauvin attorney has argued that the now-fired white officer did what he was trained to do and that Floyd’s illegal drug use and underlying health conditions, not Chauvin’s knee, killed him.