Thread by @thejournalista

So, based on the current testimony, the owner/manager of the store escalated the issue with the alleged fake $20 bill to the police. The young store clerk, a young black man, had offered to just pay for the purchase out of his own pocket. His boss refused.

Now we here.

I'm pointing this out to make another point: People often weaponize the police against Black folks simply to make a point or put us in our "place."

The clerk testified that the rule in the store is if they take a fake bill, they are responsible for it and have to pay out of their own pocket if it happens.

The boss sent them out of the store twice to try and get Floyd and his friend to come back in.

The boss clearly wanted to make a point about the bill. If the employee offered to just cover it rather than make a big deal about it, and the rule in your store is the clerk would have had to cover it anyway, why didn't you let that happen? If the boss had, Floyd might be alive.

This clerk is only 19 years old I believe. It's clear there is an attempt to paint a picture of Floyd being "aggressive" because lord knows that word is weaponized against both Black men and women. The clerk said that was not the case.

The clerk also testified that it was his coworker who escalated the second conversation with George Floyd. He also said that it appeared that George Floyd was not aware the bill was fake. He said it seemed Floyd's friend was the one trying to "run a scheme."

And again, let's not forget that a Black man was killed by a police officer basically over a fake $20 bill.

Twenty fucking dollars.

What price, a life?

Current witness is testifying that he was filming the interaction and then became intimidated by the police so he stopped. This is also a recurring theme in the testimony.

Regular citizens who are just innocent bystanders being intimidated by police.

The teen who worked in the store said he also got Floyd's death on video, but he deleted it because he didn't want to have to talk to anyone about it.

What does it say when the very people who are supposed to be protected by the police are more afraid of them than anything?

The second witness video taped the encounter from his car. Although the video was shown in court, the audio was not played, because the judge determined that it could be prejudicial.

The audio is the witness and his wife discussing what they were seeing, which was police escalating what was otherwise a calm encounter.

OVER A $20 BILL.

Y'all. One of our elders is on the stand. An older Black man by the name of Charles McMillian. He was on the scene when George Floyd was killed. He was standing in the street and saw what happened. He actually spoke to Floyd.

They just showed him the video of Floyd dying and he has completely broken down on the stand, crying. Literally sobbing.

he told the prosecution he feels helpless. In the middle of him talking, the judge interrupts and says they are going to take a ten-minute break.

Charles was trying to get Floyd to relax and calm down, but Floyd was yelling that he couldn't breathe.

It is still hard for me to watch that video. I just started crying right now. I cannot imagine standing there and seeing it happen right before your eyes.

Whew, that testimony was rough. Also, the body cam video had audio of Chauvin immediately after, and he did not sound emotional or out of breath or even regretful.

Chauvin's defense team decided not to question Uncle Charles, y'all.

Oh. uncle Charles basically checked Chauvin after they took Floyd's body away and told him he didn't respect what he did.

Chauvin excused it by saying Floyd was "a sizeable guy" and he "had to control him."

He sounded very calm when he said it.

Everyone is pointing out how "relaxed" Chauvin looked as he was kneeling on George Floyd's neck. It contradicts the narrative the defense is trying to craft that Chauvin was distracted and intimidated by an angry crowd.