Prosecutors say 3 former police officers watched as Derek Chauvin 'crushed the breath' out of George Floyd in opening statements of their federal civil rights trial

• Opening statements began Monday in the trial of Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng.
• The three former officers face civil rights charges of depriving George Floyd of his constitutional rights.

Prosecutors said that three former police officers who helped restrain George Floyd watched as Derek Chauvin "crushed the breath" out of Floyd, at the beginning of their civil rights trial in Minnesota District Court on Monday.

Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng are all charged with deprivation of rights under color of law for failing to provide medical aid to Floyd after former officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck for several minutes, prosecutors alleged in an indictment.

Thao and Kueng also face charges for failing to intervene in Chauvin's unreasonable use of force. Cameras are not allowed in federal courtrooms and the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is not offering audio streaming of the trial.

The prosecution did not mince words in opening statements of the other three officers' trial on Monday, according to local reports. Prosecutors told the jury that Kueng, Lane, and Thao "watched as Mr. Floyd suffered a slow, agonizing death" while Chauvin "crushed the breath" out of Floyd, The Star Tribune's Rochelle Olson reported.

"We will ask you to hold these men accountable for choosing to do nothing," prosecutors said, according to FOX 9.

Prosecutors also emphasized the fact that multiple bystanders "who needed no special training," recognized that Floyd was in danger and pleaded with the officers to stop, The Tribune reported. Multiple bystanders from the scene will testify in the trial, according to the report.

Prosecutors focused on each individual officer's alleged wrongdoing, FOX 9's Rob Olson reported. Prosecutors said that Thao taunted Floyd about being under the influence of drugs instead of providing him medical assistance, Kueng did not help Floyd after he noticed that he didn't have a pulse, and Lane "chose to do nothing" after the other officers told him not to roll Floyd on his side, Fox 9 reported.

"You'll hear there's no reason to hold a handcuffed person down," prosecutors told the jury according to FOX 9. "Get them up or get them on their side."

Prosecutors said Lane rejected the request to roll Floyd on his side, The Tribune reported, and was more concerned with a pebble stuck in the tire of a police car than Floyd dying. Prosecutors also said the officers did not start performing CPR on Floyd until almost five minutes after Kueng couldn't find a pulse, according to The Tribune.

Defense attorney Robert Paule, who is representing Thao, began his opening statement by saying that most people who saw cell phone video of Floyd's arrest didn't see "before" the video started, according to The Tribune. Paule told the jury that officers were responding to a report of someone passing a counterfeit $20 bill, The Tribune reported.

"We, as citizens in the society, expect police to investigate potential crimes," Paule said according to The Tribune "That's what they were doing in this case."

Chauvin is serving a 22-year sentence after a state jury convicted him on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter for the death of Floyd on April 20, 2021. Chauvin also pleaded guilty to two federal counts of deprivation of rights under the color of law on December 15, 2021.

Chauvin admitted to violating Floyd's rights and depriving a 14-year-old of their constitutional right to be free from unreasonable force by a police officer for an unrelated 2017 encounter where he knelt on the adolescent's neck while they were handcuffed and in a prone position.