- During day 2 of the
Derek Chauvin trial , the jury heard from bystanders. - Witnesses, some minors at the time, described feeling desperate when police wouldn't help Floyd.
- "I knew time was running out or that it had already, that he was going to die," one teen said.
Genevieve Hansen, a Minneapolis firefighter and EMT, was off-duty on May 25 when she came across the emergency scene where then-officer Derek Chauvin was pressing his knee into the neck of a handcuffed man who was begging for his life.
Seeing the man - now known to have been George Floyd - was in distress, she tried to let officers know who she was and that she was available to help.
"I identified myself right away because I noticed he needed medical attention," Hansen testified during day two of Chauvin's trial. "I thought his face looked puffy and swollen, which would happen if you're putting a grown man's weight on someones neck."
Hansen was among six bystanders who testified Tuesday about witnessing Floyd's last moments alive.
Most of them described feeling helpless in their efforts to make sure officers didn't kill Floyd on their watch.
Hansen said she wanted to help, but wasn't given access
As bystanders begged for Chauvin to get off of the man - who has since been identified as George Floyd - Hansen noticed that the man's face was swollen and pressed to the ground. His consciousness was altered.
As time when on and she continued to beg officers at the scene let her check a pulse, or at least for them to do it, she grew more upset because they weren't completing the steps needed to keep him alive.
Hansen said she tried to intervene, asking Chauvin and Officer Tou Thao if she could take Floyd's pulse.
Thao responded, "if you really are a Minneapolis firefighter, then you would know better to get involved," Hansen said.
Hansen testified that she was concerned about Floyd's life when she saw body fluid, that she believed could have been urine - a sign that a patient was dying or had died.
"I was desperate to help and wasn't getting what I needed to do, I wasn't gaining access," she said, in tears.
Three teenagers said they begged Chauvin to get off Floyd. When he didn't, they documented it.
Darnella Fraizer, who was 17 when Floyd was killed in May 2020, came across the scene when she was walking her little cousin to buy snacks at Cup Foods.
When she heard Floyd crying out for help, she sent her 9-year-old cousin inside the store because she didn't want her to see what was happening. Then she started to record it on her phone.
She told the
Two other teenage girls - Alyssa and Kaylynn - also recorded the incident and called out for Chauvin to get off Floyd's neck.
Alyssa had driven Kaylynn to Cup Foods and when both heard a man begging for help when they pulled up to the store.
Kaylynn gave Alyssa her phone to document the scene, they both testified.
"I could hear George basically crying and begging them to get off of him because he was in pain," Alyssa said. "His eyes were starting to roll to the back of his head, saliva was coming out of his mouth."
"I knew time was running out or that it had already, that he was going to die," she added.
Kaylynn told the jury she remembered calling out to the officers, asking them why they were still on top of Floyd.
"Hes not doing anything wrong," she remembered saying. "He's handcuffed."
As people called out, though, "I saw him sort of digging his knee into his neck more," she said.
At one point, she remembers Chauvin pulling mace out and pointing it in the direction of her and the other bystanders.
"He did grab his mace and started shaking it at us," Kaylynn said. "I didn't know what was going to happen ... I was scared of Chauvin."
Chauvin's attorney painted bystanders as a distracting mob
In his opening statement, Chauvin's attorney Eric Nelson tried to paint a picture that the bystanders who surrounded the scene were an unruly group distracting officers from caring for the suspect in their custody.
Those bystanders, however, testified that getting officers to care for Floyd is exactly what they called for.
Donald Williams, a professional martial artist and security guard, testified that he witnessed Chauvin use a "blood choke" on Floyd, restricting his breathing.
After first observing the scene, Williams started calling out demanding that the Chauvin get off Floyd's neck. As time went on, he began swearing and calling Chauvin names.
Hansen, too, said on the stand that she had called Chauvin a bitch.
"I got quite angry after Mr. Floyd was loaded into the ambulance and there was no point in trying to reason with them anymore because they had just killed somebody," she said.
"I don't know if you've seen anyone be killed, but it's upsetting," Hansen added later.
Nelson asked several of the teenagers whether the crowd was violent or threatening.
"No," Kaylynn responded. "They were just using their voice."
One witness said he 'witnessed a murder'
Both Hansen and Williams called 911 after the incident to report that they saw a man killed by police.
"I believe I witnessed a murder," Williams said. "I felt the need to call the police on the police."
Chauvin, who was captured on video kneeling on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes, is facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Testimony in Chauvin's trial will continue Wednesday morning.