The preliminary results of George Floyd’s autopsy say there were a number of factors that contributed to the death of the 46-year-old.
The report, conducted by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, states there were no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.
However, the combined effects of being pinned down by an officer as well as “his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
The findings were included in the criminal complaint against Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who was filmed kneeling on Floyd’s neck during an attempted arrest.
The report states Chauvin, who was arrested on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges Friday, kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, and nearly 3 minutes after Floyd became unresponsive.
Police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous,” the complaint read.
The findings were immediately met with skepticism across social media, with many dismissing the report as an attempt to change the narrative surrounding the investigation.
“The family does not trust anything coming from the Minneapolis Police Department. How can they? the Floyd family’s attorney Ben Crump said during a news conference.
Crump confirmed the Floyd family hired former New York City medical examiner, Dr Michael Baden to conduct an independent autopsy.
Dr Baden is expected to share his findings sometime next week.
The family lawyer also said they were going to take back custody of George Floyd’s body, to perform an independent autopsy because they saw in the Eric Garner case (a black man who died of police brutality, similar to George Floyd’s in 2014) and so many other cases where the police bring in people who conduct autopsies and come up with results that can only be an illusion.
He added that they are not going to rely on the autopsy report from the District Attorney or the Minneapolis Police Department to “tell us the truth; we already saw the truth”.
