>> MAY IT PLEASE THE COURT,
COUNSEL, MEMBERS OF THE JURY,
HIS NAME WAS GEORGE PERRY FLOYD
JR. AND HE WAS BORN ON OCTOBER
14, 1973, IN FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, TO HIS PARENTS GEORGE
CAROLINA, TO HIS PARENTS GEORGE
FLOYD SR. AND LARCENIA JONES
FLOYD, THE MATRIARCH.
YOU MET GEORGE FLOYD’S BROTHER
AND YOU HEARD ALL ABOUT HIS
MOTHER.
SHE WAS GEORGE FLOYD’S MOM.
SHE WAS THE MOM OF THE HOUSE.
SHE WAS THE MOM OF THE
NEIGHBORHOOD.
YOU HEARD ABOUT THE SPECIAL BOND
THAT SHE AND GEORGE FLOYD SHARED
DURING HIS LIFE.
YOU’VE HEARD ABOUT THEIR
RELATIONSHIP, HOW HE WOULD
ALWAYS TAKE TIME, SPECIAL
ATTENTION TO BE WITH HIS MOTHER,
HOW HE WOULD STILL CUDDLE WITH
HER IN THE FETAL POSITION.
YOU’VE HEARD THAT.
AND FROM GEORGE FLOYD’S BROTHER
YOU LEARNED ALL ABOUT GEORGE’S
CHILDHOOD AND DURING HIS TIME
GROWING UP IN THAT HOUSE, GEORGE
FLOYD WAS SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE,
BY PEOPLE HE KNEW, PEOPLE WHO
KNEW HIM, PEOPLE HE RECOGNIZED,
A FAMILIAR FACE TO PICK OUT IN THE CROWD.
THE CROWD.
PEOPLE NEED THAT.
GEORGE FLOYD WAS SURROUNDED BY
PEOPLE HE CARED ABOUT AND WHO
CARED ABOUT HIM THROUGHOUT HIS
LIFE.
THROUGHOUT HIS CHILDHOOD IN THAT
HOUSE, THROUGH HIS ADOLESCENCE INTO HIS ADULTHOOD.
INTO HIS ADULTHOOD.
ON MAY 25, 2020, GEORGE FLOYD
DIED
DIED FACEDOWN ON THE PAVEMENT
RIGHT ON 38th AND CHICAGO IN
MINNEAPOLIS.
9 MINUTES AND 29 SECONDS.
DURING THIS TIME, GEORGE FLOYD
STRUGGLED DESPERATE TO BREATHE,
TO MAKE ENOUGH ROOM IN HIS CHEST
TO BREATHE.
BUT THE FORCE WAS TOO MUCH.
HE WAS TRAPPED.
HE WAS TRAPPED WITH THE
UNYIELDING PAVEMENT UNDERNEATH
HIM, AS UNYIELDING AS THE MEN
WHO HELD HIM DOWN, PUSHING HIM,
A KNEE TO THE NECK, A KNEE TO
THE BACK, TWISTING HIS FINGERS,
HOLDING HIS LEGS FOR 9 MINUTES
AND 29 SECOND.
THE DEFENDANT’S WEIGHT ON HIM.
THE LUNGS IN HIS CHEST UNABLE TO
EXPAND BECAUSE THERE WASN’T
ENOUGH ROOM TO BREATHE.
GEORGE FLOYD TRIED.
HE PUSHED HIS BARE SHOULDER
AGAINST THE PAVEMENT TO LIFT
HIMSELF TO GIVE HIS CHEST, TO
GIVE HIS LUNGS ENOUGH ROOM IN
HIS CHEST TO BREATHE BUT THE
PAVEMENT TEARING INTO HIS BARE
SKIN.
AS HE DESPERATELY PUSHED WITH
HIS KNUCKLES TO MAKE SPACE SO HE
WOULD HAVE ROOM TO BREATHE.
THE PAVEMENT LACERATING,
LACERATING HIS KNUCKLES.
DEFENDANT STAYED ON TOP OF HIM
FOR 9 MINUTES AND 29 SECONDS.
SO DESPERATE TO BREATHE, HE
PUSHED WITH HIS FACE, WITH HIS
FACE.
FACE, TO LIFT HIMSELF, TO OPEN
HIS CHEST TO GIVE HIS LUNGS ROOM
TO BREATHE.
THE PAVEMENT TEARING INTO HIS
SKIN.
GEORGE FLOYD LOSING STRENGTH,
NOT SUPER HUMAN STRENGTH.
THERE WAS NO SUPER HUMAN
STRENGTH THAT DAY.
THERE WAS NO SUPER HUMAN
STRENGTH BECAUSE THERE’S NO SUCH
THING AS A SUPER HUMAN.
THOSE EXIST IN ECONOMIC BOOKS.
38th AND CHICAGO IS A VERY REAL
PLACE.
NOT SUPER HUMANS.
ONLY HUMANS.
JUST A HUMAN, JUST A MAN LYING
ON THE PAVEMENT BEING PRESSED
UPON DESPERATELY CRYING OUT, A GROWN MAN CRYING OUT FOR HIS
GROWN MAN CRYING OUT FOR HIS
MOTHER, A HUMAN BEING.
AND IN THAT TIME AND IN THAT
PLACE WHILE HE WAS SURROUNDED IN
LIFE BY PEOPLE HE KNEW HIM,
FACES HE COULD PICK OUT, THERE
WAS NO ONE THERE HE KNEW.
HE WAS SURROUNDED BY STRANGERS.
STRINGERS, ALL OF THEM, 9
MINUTES AND 29 SECONDS HE’S
SURROUNDED BY STRANGERS, NOT A
FAMILIAR FACE TO SAY HIS FINAL
WORDS.
BUT HE DID SAY THEM TO SOMEONE.
HE SAID THEM TO SOMEONE WHO HE
DID NOT KNOW BY NAME, BUT HE
KNEW HIM FROM THE UNIFORM HE
WORE AND THE BADGE HE WORE, AND
HE CALLED HIM MR. OFFICER.
THAT’S WHAT HE CALLED HIM.
MR. OFFICER.
MR. OFFICER WOULD HELP.
WE CALL THE POLICE WHEN WE NEED
HELP.
HE PLEADED WITH MR. OFFICER.
GEORGE FLOYD’S FINAL WORDS ON
MAY 25, 2020, WERE, PLEASE.
I CAN’T BREATHE.
AND HE SAID THOSE WORDS TO MR.