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Police chief Medaria Arradondo on the witness stand
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JANE ROSENBERG / REUTERS
In the trial of the violent death of the African American George Floyd, the Minneapolis police chief branded the actions of the accused ex-police officer as a clear violation of the rules.
Medaria Arradondo said in court on Monday that Derek Chauvin "violated" the rules of the city's police force when he pressed his knee to Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes.
The procedure is "not part of our policy, not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics or our values."
Derek Chauvin should have stopped the use of physical violence when Floyd, lying on the ground and handcuffed, no longer offered resistance, Arradondo said on the witness stand.
Above all, however, Chauvin should have let go of Floyd when he no longer gave any sign of life.
Floyd's death on video on May 25th last year sparked outrage around the world.
According to prosecutors, Chauvin had the 46-year-old arrested on charges of paying with counterfeit money for exactly nine minutes and 29 seconds, although Floyd repeatedly complained that he could no longer breathe and finally passed out lost.
The African American was later pronounced dead in a hospital.
The Chauvin, who was dismissed after the incident by Police Chief Arradondo, has to answer in court, among other things, for "second degree murder".
This corresponds roughly to manslaughter in a serious case and can be punished with up to 40 years in prison.
The white ex-police officer rejects the allegations.
mjm / AFP