MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Shocking video footage of George Floyd gasping for breath was front and center Monday as the former Minneapolis police officer who pressed his knee into the Black man’s neck went on trial on charges of murder and manslaughter. Prosecutors played the video that shows Derek Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he pleaded for his life and went limp. Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told jurors that Chauvin “didn’t let up, he didn’t get up” even after Floyd said 27 times that he couldn’t breathe and went motionless as he was on the ground for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. The defense says it’ll show that Chauvin reacted exactly as he was trained and that drugs played a role in Floyd’s death. The widely seen video sparked waves of outrage across the U.S. and beyond.
AP
FILE - In this image taken from video, defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, defendant and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, and Nelson's assistant Amy Voss, back, introduce themselves to potential jurors on Tuesday, March 23, 2021, as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over jury selection in the trial of Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. The huge task for jurors at the trial of Chauvin showed during jury selection as some would-be jurors said they were unnerved by the very thought of being on the panel. (Court TV, via AP, Pool)
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