MINNEAPOLIS — The civil rights trial of three former Minneapolis police officers resumed Monday with a Harvard pulmonologist testifying that George Floyd died of asphyxia from the pressure on his neck and restrictions to the movement of his midsection.
"This was an eminently reversible respiratory failure event right up until the time he lost consciousness," Dr. David Systrom testified, adding that the situation was "quickly reversible if the impediments to breathing were removed."
Instead, Floyd died under the pressure of Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck for 9 minutes and 30 seconds with two other officers holding him prone against the hard asphalt, unable to expand his diaphragm and draw deep breaths, Systrom said.
