People have taken to Twitter to protest after the result of George Floyd’s autopsy stated that there are “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation”, but noted that Floyd had underlying health conditions.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner released these findings after conducting an autopsy on George Floyd on May 26.
The preliminary results of the autopsy were included in the statement of probable cause for charges against Derek Chauvin.
The statement said: “Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
The medical examiner noted that Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck for “8 minutes and 46 seconds total. Two minutes and 53 seconds of this was after Mr. Floyd was nonresponsive.”
The statement also notes that police are trained against using this type of restraint because it is “inherently dangerous.”
The result of the autopsy angered people and they took to Twitter to say that George didn’t die because of his underlying health conditions. They pointed out that he would still be alive if Derek Chauvin had not knelt on his neck.
@Taraskurtu wrote: “Preliminary autopsy: ‘No physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation’.(CNN)
“George Floyd was strangled for over 8 minutes. And he was unresponsive for almost 3 full minutes of it.”
“Oh this is a bad one. WTF, the cops KNEE was on his f-ng neck. Who cares about his pre-existing conditions!” @CheapguyNYC wrote.
@ShurrieP said: “He was still talking while being restrained. So pre-existing conditions shouldn’t be a factor during a pandemic or taken into consideration at all?”
“The cover up just started,” another wrote.
@runewarrior wrote: “Ummm. I can bet he would still be alive today if he hadn’t been pinned or had a knee to his neck. You can block someones airway without causing violent trauma.”
Floyd’s family have revealed that they will seek an independent autopsy of his body, citing its mistrust in Minneapolis city officials, according to an attorney for the family.
The Floyd family has hired former chief medical examiner of New York City Michael Baden to conduct an independent autopsy, the family’s lawyer said.
“We’ve just spoken recently with the district attorney,” Ben Crump said at a press conference. “We’re going to take custody back of his body, and we’re bringing in Dr. Michael Baden to perform an independent autopsy.”
Crump added, “The family does not trust anything coming from the Minneapolis Police Department. How can they?”
Baden is a forensic pathologist who testified at OJ Simpson’s murder trial and conducted private autopsies on Jeffrey Epstein and Michael Brown, the 18-year-old African American man fatally shot by a white police in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014.
Baden told CBS News he will conduct the autopsy next week.
Meanwhile, Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death.
Below are reactions to Floyd’s autopsy.
