Thread by @deenafaywinter

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks to a huge gaggle of reporters outside the courthouse as #DerekChauvin trial opening arguments begin today in Minneapolis

Judge Peter Cahill is swearing in the jury now.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell is giving the opening statement, talking about what the police badge means, and how Chauvin squeezed the life out of George Floyd, even tho he was unarmed, handcuffed, hadn't threatened anyone and was defenseless in 9 minutes, 29 seconds.

Blackwell says Floyd pleaded 27 times in 4 mins, 45 seconds, crying out for his dead mother, saying to “tell my kids I love them,” “I’ll probably die this way,” “I’m through,” crying out in pain, saying his stomach, neck and everything hurt. Final words: "I can’t breathe."

Blackwell says Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s back and neck even after the other officer could find no pulse. After the paramedics arrived. After a gurney was brought over to Floyd’s lifeless body. “Only then does Mr. Chauvin let up and get up.”

Blackwell says a sergeant who arrived on the scene afterward will testify that the use of force should have ended as soon as Floyd was put on the ground.

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo will testify that this was excessive force, Blackwell says.

Blackwell says putting in Floyd in the prone position was uncalled for, let alone for 9 minutes, 29 seconds. #DerekChauvintrial

Blackwell says this is not about all police officers, and “This case is not about split-second decision-making."

Blackwell says the jury will hear from the witnesses, "a veritable bouquet of humanity" of young and old people who tried to intervene & get the officers to stop.

Blackwell shows a video of Floyd begging to be let up, saying “I can’t breathe,” people begging Chauvin to let him up. #derekChauvintrial

Bystander says his mouth is bleeding. “I cannot breathe” Floydo says repeatedly. As the video plays, Chauvin is taking notes, watching sporadically.

“He enjoying that shit” bystander Donald Williams says on the video, calls Chauvin a “fuckin bum” and asks for his badge number. Nelson is watching the jury. Chauvin is taking notes, looking up and down.

“He’s not responsive right now, bro,” Williams says. “Check his pulse” he says repeatedly. Floyd is unresponsive. "The main ain't moved yet," he says. "You're a bum bro," Williams says over and over. #DerekChauvintrial

Bystanders are increasingly frantic, telling the cops to check his pulse, Williams yelling “get off his neck.” “you gonna let him kill that man in front of you,” Williams says to Officer Thao. The scene is chaotic as Floyd is put on a gurney and Thao tries to control crowd.

Video ends. Blackwell says a number of the bystanders called the police on the police, including an off-duty firefighter, Donald Williams, and even a 911 dispatcher who could see the scene from a fixed police camera.

Blackwell says MPD officers are trained that you can put someone in the prone position to get them under control and handcuffed, but Floyd was already handcuffed when they put him on the street, and then they’re supposed to turn people onto their side as soon as possible.

Blackwell says this was not a heart attack, a fatal arrhythmia or opioid overdose, saying while Floyd struggled with an opioid addiction for years, the level of fentanyl in his system was not fatal for someone whose tolerance level was higher.

“He was somebody," Blackwell says of Floyd. #DerekChauvintrial

And that concludes Blackwell's opening; now Chauvin's attorney is giving his opening.

Eric Nelson is going thru the chronology of what happened that day at Cup Foods

Nelson says the 2 people w/ Floyd that day will testify that he consumed 2 Percocet pills and fell asleep in his Mercedes and they couldn’t wake him up.

When confronted, Floyd put drugs in mouth to conceal from police, Nelson says. Says jury will see video from Dragon Wok showing further evidence of concealment of drugs.

Nelson says a search of the squad car turned up two pills that were a mixture of methamphetamine and fentanyl — an opiate and stimulate called a speed bomb. #DerekChauvintrial

Nelson says three police officers were unable to restrain Floyd, who is 6’3” and 223 pounds, while Chauvin is 5’9” and 140 pounds.

Nelson says the evidence will show George Floyd died of cardiac arrhythmia due to hypertension, coronary disease and the drugs flowing through his body, further compromising an already compromised heart. #derekchauvintrial

Nelson said Hennepin County medical examiner Andrew Baker did the “only autopsy” and had “extremely important” medical findings, including that Floyd had exceptionally high level of carbon dioxide and no telltale signs of asphyxiation or evidence his airflow was restricted.

Opening statements are over; they are breaking until 11:15

And we're back, the state is calling its first witnesses in the #derekchauvintrial

The first witness for the prosecution is Jena Scurry, a
911 dispatcher for the city of Minneapolis.

Blackwell said she will testify about seeing the Floyd incident from a fixed police camera and what she saw was so "unusual and disturbing" that she did something she’d never done before — call the police on the police — by calling a sergeant to report what was happening.

The street camera the dispatcher noticed shows two officers taking George Floyd to a squad car parked in front of Cup Foods.

Quote of the day so far, from prosecutor Jerry Blackwell: "This case is not about split-second decision making. In nine minutes and 29 seconds there are 479 seconds — not a split second among them.”

And we are resuming with cross-examination of the 911 dispatcher by Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson

Nelson notes that when she called the sergeant, he said it could have just been a “takedown” which wouldn’t require reporting.

Dispatcher Scurry testifies that police control the cameras, and it’s rare for somebody to put an incident on the screen like they did that did with Floyd. On to next state witness.

I think this is what you'd call a reluctant witness:

https://twitter.com/rochelleolson/status/1376615962573737989?s=20

Alisha Oyler says was working at the Speedway cash register on May 25 when she noticed “the police messin with someone” catching herself from swearing an instead saying “messin”

Oyler recorded part of the incident with her cell phone. The prosecutor plays her cell phone videos spliced into the street surveillance video previously played for the jury.

We are seeing video of the 4 officers all holding Floyd down on the street — video I've never seen before. We normally see them from the other side of the squad SUV, where you can only see officers Chauvin and Tou Thao.

Oyler says in the cellphone video of the officers kneeling on Floyd, “There’s always some shit goin’ on," saying she kept recording the incident because she always sees the police "messin with people and it's wrong and it's not right."

From this vantage point, you get a better sense of how MANY people drove and walked by what turned out to be such a pivotal moment in U.S. history. City buses even go by the scene. #DerekChauvinTrial

The prosecutors now call Donald Williams to testify; he was the young black man who was most vocal at the scene trying to get the officers to get off Floyd, calling them bums frequently.

He has also worked in security — bouncer, "door guy," private security escorts — and has been a professional fighter. He was a high school wrestler who developed into martial arts.

Donald Williams says he contemplated whether to go in the store or get involved, but said "my energy just kept pushing me forward."

Donald Williams said as time went on, Floyd faded away “like a fish in a bag,” his eyes rolled back, blood came out of his nose, he gasped for air and could barely move before he went lifeless.

Williams says Officer Thao said “This is what drugs do to you” and Williams said “this is not what drugs do to you” and Thao's comment “pissed me off more.”

Williams testified that he accused Derek Chauvin of putting Floyd in a “blood choke” and that’s the only time Chauvin looked up at him “dead in the eye.”

And we just lost the video feed, looks like everybody did in the press room and online livestreams.

All the reporters in the media center across the street lost their four camera angles/live feed. We're told they think it's a problem at the courthouse. Tuning into WCCO & they're reporting the judge has had the jury leave the room to instruct Williams to avoid speculation

Some outlets still apparently have a live feed, some don't:

https://twitter.com/nancywgonzalez/status/1376647737274462211?s=20

Judge says they had a "major technical glitch" and the feed has gone down, and they don't want family members elsewhere in the building to be deprived of seeing the trial, so they're gonna shut down the trial for today.