Advertisement

Man heard in George Floyd video says arresting officers 'wanted to kill that man'

Donald Williams, a bystander at the arrest that would ultimately lead to the death of George Floyd while in police custody, spoke with CNN’s Chris Cuomo Wednesday night and recounted what he witnessed Monday night. In the video in which Floyd can be heard telling Minneapolis police officers that he couldn’t breathe, Williams can be heard pleading with an officer to take his knee off of Floyd’s neck. Floyd was on the ground in handcuffs at the time with an officer kneeling on his neck. Floyd’s family says that what happened to him was murder on the part of the police, and Williams says that’s exactly what he witnessed.

“The part that makes the least sense, did any of the cops… did you hear them talking to each other about why they couldn’t just move him and get him out of the situation?” Cuomo asked. “Bro, they wanted to kill that man, bro,” Williams answered. “They didn’t speak. They didn’t say nothin’… the man had his knee on his chest, bro. He knew what he was doing.”

Williams explained to Cuomo, as he can be heard explaining to the officers in the video, that he’s been trained in martial arts, and said that he told the officer whose knee was on Floyd’s neck exactly what he was doing.

“I told him it was a blood choke,” Williams said. “He knew it was a blood choke. He looked at me when I said it. He put his head down. He did not make any more gestures. He did not say any other thing.”

Williams, like Floyd’s family, believes the other officers on the scene are just as responsible for Floyd’s death as the one who knelt on his neck because they didn’t stop it. Williams called them cowards. And what he witnessed will stick with him for the rest of his life.

“Seeing another man that looks like me, that feels like me, that has the same complexion as me, lose his life to another man who had no…he had no feeling,” Williams said. “He had no remorse. He had s**t in him. He had no feeling. I don’t even think he had a heart at that moment, and he’s gonna feel that for the rest of his life, just like I’m gonna hear my man say this: ‘I can’t breath. I want my mama.’”

Cuomo Prime Time airs weeknights at 9 p.m. on CNN.

Watch George Floyd’s family demand murder charges for cops involved in his deadly arrest:

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.