‘You can call me a snitch’: 911 dispatcher was so alarmed watching George Floyd arrest she contacted supervisor
New audio shows concerns were raised at police dispatch centre over George Floyd’s arrest
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Your support makes all the difference.A Minneapolis police dispatcher was so alarmed watching George Floyd’s arrest in real-time that she asked her supervisor to step-in.
Minneapolis authorities released new audio on Monday revealing how one 911 dispatcher warned her police supervisor about Floyd’s arrest despite not wanting to “snitch” on the four cops who had been dispatched to Cup Foods, where the unarmed black man was arrested on 25 May.
In a video that was soon shared online, ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin had pinned Floyd, an unarmed black man, down until he could not breathe, and later died.
Those actions were noticed at the 911 dispatch centre where the arrest, described as being a “little different”, could be viewed in real-time via surveillance cameras.
One dispatcher, who has not been identified, said to her superior: “I don’t know, you can call me a snitch if you want to, but we have the cameras up for (squad) 320’s call, and… I don’t know if they had to use force or not”.
She continues: “They got something out of the back of the squad, and all of them sat on this man, so I don’t know if they needed you or not, but they haven’t said anything to me yet”.
“Yeah, they haven’t said anything yet… just a take down, which doesn’t count, but I’ll find out,” the supervisor responds to those concerns.
The dispatcher then says about the arrest: “No problem, we don’t get to ever see it so when we see it we’re just like, well, that looks a little different, but…”
Authorities did not confirm whether the supervisor on that call, which lasted less than a minute, did respond to Floyd’s arrest.
Under Minneapolis Police Department rules, supervisors are supposed to be informed when officers use force during an arrest, unless it is to “take down” the suspect.
The new audio comes after damming new video showed how another ex-Minneapolis cop, Tou Thao, ignored onlookers’ pleas to intervene as Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck.
“He ain’t moved yet bro. He has not moved not one time,” one unidentified witness told Thao. “You’re going to let him kill that man in front of you?”
The new video and police audio provide more evidence against the dismissed Minneapolis cops whose actions have ignited worldwide demonstrations against systemic racism and police violence.
Thao, aged 34, and officers Thomas Lane, aged 37, and J Alexander Kueng, aged 26, were all charged with aiding and abetting the murder.
Chauvin, meanwhile, was charged with second-degree murder, second degree manslaughter and third-degree murder.
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