Veteran cop: Chauvin force ‘uncalled for’
Zimmerman blasts handling of Floyd arrest
MINNEAPOLIS — The longest-serving officer in the Minneapolis Police Department and head of the homicide unit testified Friday in Hennepin County District Court that the level of force used by ex- cop Derek Chauvin on George Floyd was “totally unnecessary” and dangerous.
Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who has been with the department since 1985, was one of just two witnesses in a half-day session of court that closed out the first week of testimony in Mr. Chauvin’s trial on charges of second- and third-degree murder and manslaughter. (The other was Sgt. Jon Edwards, the night supervisor in the Third Precinct, where Floyd was arrested.)
“First of all,” Lt. Zimmerman said, “pulling him down to the ground facedown and putting your knee on a neck for that amount of time is just uncalled for.”
Lt. Zimmerman was the 19th witness over a first week that included 12 eyewitnesses at the scene of Floyd’s death in police custody on May 25. Friday’s
testimony, which included the introduction of still photos and short video clips, focused on procedure and routine, unlike the previous four emotional days of repeated viewings of the agonizing bystander video and the stories of tearful, traumatized witnesses.
In the first days of testimony, the 14 jurors and everyone else watching the livestream saw multiple videos from police body cameras and bystanders of Floyd’s arrest in which he was pinned to the pavement on his stomach, handcuffed behind his back for more than nine minutes, calling for his “Mama,” and saying he couldn’t breathe until he fell motionless and silent.
The other fired officers who helped arrest and restrain Floyd — J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao — are scheduled to go on trial in August on charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter.
Lt. Zimmerman, who has been in the homicide unit he now leads since 1995, discussed the department’s use of force policy, ranging from simply showing up to a scene and climbing all the way to deadly force.
He said department policy requires that prone suspects who are handcuffed — as Floyd was by Mr. Chauvin — must be taken off their chest as soon as possible. The position stretches the chest muscles and makes breathing difficult, Lt. Zimmerman said.
Prosecutor Matthew Frank asked whether, in Lt. Zimmerman’s opinion, the restraint should have stopped once Floyd was handcuffed and prone.
Lt. Zimmerman responded, “Absolutely.”
Mr. Frank asked Lt. Zimmerman if he was trained to put a knee on the neck of someone in handcuffs. “No, I haven’t,” he replied. Lt. Zimmerman said such a tactic would fall under the highest level of force by an officer: deadly force.
“If your knee is on someone’s neck, that could kill them,” he said.
When prosecutors questioned Lt. Zimmerman again later, Mr. Frank asked him: “Did you see any need for Officer Chauvin to improvise by putting his knee on Mr. Floyd for 9 minutes and 29 seconds?”
“No, I did not,” he replied.