By Laura French
MINNEAPOLIS — A woman who identified herself as an off-duty Minneapolis firefighter was seen telling police officers to check George Floyd’s vital signs in the widely circulated bystander video of Floyd being restrained before his death.
Police said Floyd was stopped on suspicion of forgery and resisted arrest, and the video shows an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck as he says he can’t breathe, according to the Associated Press. Floyd can be seen no longer moving later on in the video.
Floyd died shortly after the arrest; a cause of death has not yet been released in the case. The four officers involved in the arrest have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department.
About five minutes and 25 seconds into the 10-minute bystander video originally posted on Facebook, a woman can be seen saying she is a Minneapolis firefighter and demanding that officers check Floyd’s pulse.
“Show me his pulse!” the firefighter says. “Check his pulse right now and tell me what it is. Tell me what his pulse is right now.”
One of the officers orders the firefighter to move onto the sidewalk as another bystander also demands that officers check Floyd’s pulse.
At about seven minutes and 46 seconds into the video, shortly after an ambulance arrives at the scene, the firefighter says to the officers, “Listen, I’m a first responder from Minneapolis, the fact that you guys aren’t checking his pulse and doing compressions if he needs them, you guys are on another level!”
Floyd’s death has sparked massive protests in Minneapolis.
The full video can be viewed on Facebook.
A Twitter user also posted this clip showing the firefighter talking to officers:
https://twitter.com/Ishmael_luxury/status/1265377449682120710