Chauvin trial witness overwhelmed with sorrow watching George Floyd arrest video

Sobs of grief overcame a man testifying Wednesday afternoon in the Derek Chauvin murder trial as he watched video of himself standing by as police struggled with George Floyd, who called out for his mother and shouted “I can’t breathe” on the evening of his arrest and death last spring.

Charles Mcmillian said in Hennepin County District Court that he came upon the scene early on when police detained Floyd on suspicion of passing a fake $20 bill at the Cup Foods convenience store at E. 38th Street and S. Chicago Avenue.

Mcmillian said he tried to get Floyd to calm down as two officers tried to get him into the back of their squad car.

MINNEAPOLIS —

Prosecutor Erin Eldridge played officer-worn body camera footage as exterior store surveillance video also rolled. It showed Mcmillian calmly watching the officers having difficulty getting an increasing agitated Floyd into their squad.

Floyd cried “Mama, Mama, Mama” repeatedly and yell out that “I can’t breathe” on the video. Once the video stopped, the global livestream showed Mcmillian wiping away tears, fighting sobs.

“Oh, my god,” the witness said in a breathy whisper. With that, Judge Peter Cahill called for a brief break to give Mcmillian, 61, time regain his composure.

Earlier, Mcmillian testified that he recognized Chauvin and had seen him as recently as five days earlier.

“I pulled up to the squad car somewhere in south Minneapolis, and I see Mr. Chauvin, and I told him like I tell other officers that the end of the day you go home to your family safe and that the next person goes home to their family safe,” he said.

When proceedings resumed, newly released video from Chauvin’s body-worn camera showed Mcmillian confront the officer as he got into his squad after Floyd was taken away in an ambulance.

Mcmillian reminded Chauvin of what he had told him five days earlier about getting home safe to his family, as the next person should be able to.

Chauvin then defends his actions, saying, “We’ve gotta control this guy because he’s a sizable guy, and it looks like he’s probably on something.”