Show an ad over header. AMP  

Democrats plan to marshal video, audio for Trump trial

31 January 2021
 Dan Ackermann

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC that at next week's impeachment trial, the House managers "are going to show the American people — vividly, on film — what happened there in the Capitol, what Trump said. … All of America will see it."

Why it matters: Most Republicans have said they will not vote to convict. But "the effort to present new video evidence and witness testimony appears designed to make Republican senators as uncomfortable as possible as they prepare to vote to acquit Trump," the Washington Post writes.

What they're saying: "There's a lot ofbull going on with these Republicans," Schumer said. "The only healing will come if we take full accountability."

  • "Video, audioand other visual materials are considered even more pivotal to making the case for conviction in Trump’s second impeachment trial."

Trump adviser Jason Miller told Axios' Mike Allen: "'Emotionally charged' is code for 'We know this is unconstitutional, but we’re going to try to put on a show anyway.'"

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

Section2

Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.