Minneapolis police chief testifies against Chauvin: He violated policy in George Floyd arrest

Derek Chauvin violated Minneapolis Police Department rules and its ethics code on respecting the “sanctity of life” during the deadly arrest of George Floyd last May, the city’s police chief testified at the former officer’s murder trial on monday.

“It’s not part of our training, and it is certainly not part of our ethics and our values,” said chief Medaria Arradondo, referring to how Chauvin, who is white, held his knee on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, for more than nine minutes.

It was a bystander’s video of this event that led to Floyd’s death that sparked the global Black Lives Matter movement, and protests against police brutality.

Last year the chief released a statement saying: “This was murder – it wasn’t a lack of training.” 

On Monday , he appeared in his uniform in front of the jury, “I vehemently disagree that that was appropriate use of force for that situation on May 25,” he said.