Iran Press/America: Arradondo gave testimony to Chauvin’s ongoing murder trial, in which he said the former officer should have stopped kneeling on Floyd’s neck once he ‘had stopped resisting and certainly once he was in distress and trying to verbalize that.'
The police chief went on to tell the court that officers within the Minneapolis department are trained to respond to medical events and emergencies, noting that not one officer tried to help Floyd, who expressed on several occasions he was struggling to breathe.
When prosecutor Steve Schleicher asked whether the officers involved in Floyd’s arrest had followed department policy during the arrest, the police chief confirmed that they did not.
The police chief is one of several high-ranking officials who have taken to the stand in Chauvin’s trial, in which he is accused of both second-degree and third-degree murder.
Last week, Chauvin’s own boss Sergeant David Pleoger told the court he saw ‘no justification’ for Chauvin choosing to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck once he stopped resisting the arrest.
Pleoger explained that officers are trained to turn suspects who are handcuffed on the ground onto their side in an attempt to avoid ‘positional asphyxia.'
‘If they are left on chest or stomachs for too long, their breathing can be compromised,’ he said.
Chauvin’s trial is expected to last for several weeks.
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