Top Minneapolis homicide cop says putting knee to George Floyd’s neck was ‘totally unnecessary’ in testimony at Derek Chauvin murder trial
Derek Chauvin’s actions during the fatal arrest of George Floyd last spring were “totally unnecessary,” a longtime Minneapolis police detective testified Friday on the fifth day of witness testimony in the ex-cop’s murder trial. Lt. Richard Zimmerman, who joined the city’s police department in 1985, said he’s never been trained to kneel on a suspect’s neck while the person is handcuffed and in a prone position — the exact tactic Chauvin used when he pinned Floyd face-down on the pavement for more than nine minutes on May 25.