Witness: Derek Chauvin purposely shifted weight to add pressure on George Floyd's neck

Attorneys in the Derek Chauvin murder trial on Monday each made their case before jurors who will decide the fired Minneapolis police officer's fate in the killing of George Floyd 10 months ago.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell began shortly before 9:40 a.m. in front of a global livestream audience in downtown Minneapolis in the heavily guarded Hennepin County Government Center and explained how the state will prove that Chauvin killed Floyd and should be convicted of murder and manslaughter.

In his nearly one-hour address to jurors, Blackwell turned to what could be the prosecution's most crucial piece of the evidence -- the viral bystander video of Floyd's arrest -- and showed it in full to the jurors, others in the courtroom and millions watching on the livestream.

"I can't breathe," Floyd said repeatedly, a phrase that quickly became a rallying cry for activists around the world. The cellphone video captured bystanders' increasingly agitated calls for intervention while Chauvin remained with his knee on Floyd's neck.

Read more: https://www.startribune.com/witness-derek-chauvin-purposely-shifted-weight-to-add-pressure-on-george-floyd-s-neck/600039838/