An independent autopsy conducted at the request of George Floyd’s family concludes Floyd’s death as “asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.
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These finding were announced Monday afternoon by Attorney Ben Crump and co-counsel Antonio Romanucci, who represents the family of George Floyd.
The Floyd family’s legal team hired Dr. Michael Baden and Dr. Allecia Wilson to conduct the independent autopsy, whom ruled the manner of death as homicide.
The attorneys claimed previously that the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office did not answer when asked about the “effect of the purposeful use of force on Mr. Floyd’s neck.”
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office said preliminary results show “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation,” and that Floyd is suffering from underlying health conditions of coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.
The preliminary report also states, “The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
After preliminary autopsy results were released on Saturday, Crump said in a statement, “We are not surprised, yet we are tragically disappointed in the preliminary autopsy findings released today by the medical examiner.”
“We hope that this does not reflect efforts to create a false narrative for the reason George Floyd died. Attempts to avoid the hard truth will not stand and on behalf of the family, we are fiercely committed to bringing the truth to light,” Crump added.
Presenting the newly released independent results, Floyd’s legal team called for the rest of the Minneapolis police officers who were discharged.
Former officer Derek Chauvin, the arresting officer seen kneeling on Floyd’s neck in a viral video, is now facing third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges.
Romanucci stressed that while it was Chauvin’s knee that pressed Floyd’s neck, it was the culture of Minneapolis Police that caused Floyd’s death.