An autopsy organized by the American family of George Floyd shows that he was suffocated by a police officer.
Minneapolis, United States:
Copy
An autopsy organized by the family of George Floyd shows that he was suffocated by an American police officer, rather than dying from preexisting heart problems as claimed by the official decision, his lawyer announced Monday.
“Independent medical examiners who performed an autopsy on Floyd on Sunday determined that suffocation due to continued pressure was the cause of death,” said Ben Crump.
Aleccia Wilson, director of autopsy and forensic science at the University of Michigan, said she had examined Floyd’s body.
“The evidence is consistent with mechanical asphyxiation as the cause of death and homicide as the mode of death,” she said at a press conference.
Floyd died on May 27 after a police officer knelt on the neck of a 46-year-old African American for almost nine minutes. Floyd became numb after almost three minutes.
Viewer video of the incident, after Floyd’s detention on a minor charge of forging a counterfeit $ 20 bill, sparked national outcry over police brutality and protests and riots in more than 140 cities.
Policeman who held his knee to Floyd’s neck, Derek Chauvin, was arrested Friday and charged with third degree, or involuntary murder, on the basis of an initial official autopsy according to which Floyd died not of asphyxiation but of “Underlying health problems, including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.”
Floyd’s family contested this finding and demanded that Chauvin be charged with first degree murder, and that three other officers at the scene be arrested and charged with being an accessory to murder.
Wilson and another autopsy expert, Dr. Michael Baden, said they did not agree with the official report, only the summary of which was published in the court document for Chauvin’s arrest.
“The autopsy shows that Mr. Floyd had no underlying medical condition which caused or contributed to his death.”
“He was in good health,” said Baden.
“I wish I had the same coronary arteries that Mr. Floyd had that we saw at the autopsy,” he added.
