MINNEAPOLIS — The off-duty Minneapolis firefighter who pleaded to render aid to George Floyd as he grew unresponsive under a police officer's knee testified about how she was repeatedly rebuffed despite her growing concerns over his welfare.
Genevieve Hansen recounted coming upon the scene while out for a walk on the evening of May 25, 2020, during the civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers who were on scene that evening. Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J. Alexander Kueng stand accused of failing to render aid to Floyd.
Hansen was the latest witness to take the stand in a pattern that so far repeats testimony in last year's state trial for Derek Chauvin, the officer who had his knee on Floyd's neck. Chauvin was convicted of murder in April.
Hansen said that on the walk she saw squad lights, and "a woman was yelling that they were killing him." She said she approached the scene from the Speedway gas station across the street because of "the amount of people that were on top of one person."
"I also noticed there was no medics or fire there, so there was no medical attention available." Speaking of the fact that that Floyd wasn't moving, she said, "I was concerned that he needed help."
Hansen said she offered to help and urged Thao to check Floyd's pulse, only to be rebuffed and told to get back on the sidewalk, with him saying "something like, 'If you're really a Minneapolis firefighter than you'd know better than to get involved.'"
Hansen said she yelled and swore at the officers: "I was recognizing this was a time-sensitive thing. He needed help and he wasn't getting it, so I was just trying everything."
Under cross examination by Lane's defense attorney Earl Gray, Hansen said Lane asked if she was really a firefighter.
"Was he a gentleman about it?" Gray asked.
"I thought it was condescending," she said.
When Gray asked to play video of the moment in question, U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson said no.
Court adjourned for the day shortly after 4 p.m., with testimony to resume Thursday morning.
Earlier in the day, the paramedic who first rendered aid to Floyd testified that Floyd was likely already dead in the officers' restraint when he arrived.
Derek Smith, a paramedic for Hennepin Healthcare, testified that he and his partner arrived at the scene after they were dispatched on a Code 2, or non-emergency lights and sirens call. Soon afterward, the call was upgraded to a more urgent Code 3.
Under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Manda Sertich, Smith explained how he noted upon arrival that Floyd's pupils were large, there was no pulse and his chest wasn't rising and falling.
Smith testified that he said to his partner: "I think he's dead, I'd like to provide patient care away from the scene."
Not only did the crowd appear agitated, Smith said, "Knowing I was going to have to work a cardiac arrest, I wanted to respect the dignity of this patient."
Jurors then watched body camera footage of Lane in the back of the ambulance with Smith, as Lane attempted CPR while Smith set up lifesaving equipment. They attempted to restart Floyd's heart with no success, Smith testified.
Lane's defense attorney, Gray, then played the body camera video again, walking Smith through Lane's actions.
"What's Mr. Lane doing now with his hands, sir?" asks Gray, trying to establish that his client didn't willfully ignore signs of distress.
"He appears to be checking a pulse," said Smith.
"Was he helpful to you?" while trying to resuscitate Floyd?" Gray asked.
"In my opinion he was helpful, yes," Smith said.
Another witness, Minneapolis Fire Capt. Jeremy Norton, testified that he arrived on scene to provide EMS, and heard someone yell, "You all killed that man" to one of the officers. However, he testified that the scene did not feel unsafe.
Asked whether officers on the scene seemed worried about the angry bystanders, Norton said, "No ma'am." Thao "did not seem at all concerned."
Thao's attorney Robert Paule asked Smith and Norton about "excited delirium," a controversial diagnosis that usually refers to a person experiencing dangerous levels of agitation. Norton said firefighters are trained on excited delirium, but he appeared to have a hard time answering questions about it. Nodding to the fraught diagnosis, which critics say is used to clear officers of wrongdoing in in-custody deaths, Norton said the American Medical Association has concluded that scientific evidence doesn't support excited delirium as a legitimate diagnosis.
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