Three Officers Simply Watched As George Floyd Suffered A ?Slow, Agonizing Death,? Prosecutors Said

Paule argued it was in the officers’ right to investigate criminal behavior and contended that Floyd was “not following directions” and was “physically resisting” during his interactions with the officers.Paule said Thao acted as a “human traffic cone” to hold back bystanders who did not know “anything that was going on before.”Thomas Plunkett, Kueng’s attorney, argued that his client, who was 26 at the time of the arrest, was an inexperienced officer who had inadequate training and who trusted Chauvin — his field training officer and a 19-year veteran of the police force.“Senior officers know things that rookies don't,” Plunkett said.The defense also maintained that the officers were only making the decisions based on the information they had in the moment.“You cannot see that knee on George Floyd's neck from where Thomas Lane was at,” Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said, who added that Lane will be testifying in the trial.Prosecutors said that even though the bystanders who witnessed Floyd’s death had “no special training,” they knew the reality of what they were seeing and pleaded with the officers to help Floyd."They understood just by seeing his body go limp ... that unless somebody changed what was happening, he would die,” said Trepel, who indicated that some of the bystanders would be testifying in the trial.She emphasized that all Minneapolis police officers are taught the phrase “in your custody is in your care,” which, she argued, the three officers did not demonstrate in their actions."Mr. Floyd was for far too long unable to expand his chest to take in enough oxygen," Trepel said.Thao, Kueng, and Lane also face state charges of aiding and abetting murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s killing and are expected to go on trial for that later this year.Nicole Fallert is a Breaking News Fellow for Buzzfeed News and is based in Washington, DC.