NR PLUS Law & the Courts

Powerful Evidence That George Floyd Resisted Arrest

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Minneapolis police department Lieutenant James Jeffrey Rugel speaks as a witness during the trial of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minn., March 31, 2021 in this courtroom sketch from a video feed of the proceedings. (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)
The case is more complicated than prosecutors would have it.

NRPLUS MEMBER ARTICLE G eorge Floyd forcibly resisted arrest. He did not verbally threaten the arresting officers, but he used significant force against them to try to prevent being taken into custody. He did not merely refuse to comply with their directives.

That was the upshot of Wednesday, the third day of the Derek Chauvin trial, in which the fired officer is charged with two counts of murdering Floyd, as well as with a count of negligently causing his death (manslaughter).

Though prosecutors tried some misdirection, the video and audio recordings are clear: Floyd, at six-foot, four-inches and 223 pounds (according to the autopsy report), was …

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