Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo says the death of George Floyd was “murder” and that the officer who was seen pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck “knew what he was doing” because he had taken specific training on preventing “positional asphyxiation,” or suffocation.
“Mr. George Floyd’s tragic death was not due to a lack of training — the training was there.
This was murder — it wasn’t a lack of training,” Arradondo said.
Arradondo released the statement late Tuesday night in response to training records questions and a data request from the Star Tribune about whether the Minneapolis Police Department fulfilled a promise in a 2013 settlement to require all sworn officers to undergo training on the dangers of positional asphyxiation.
Chief Arradondo said in the statement that the Minneapolis Police Department “went beyond the requirements” of the settlement.