Maurice Lester Hall, a close friend of George Floyd, was in the car with him when they were stopped by police. He has now come forward to disclose that Floyd did not resist the police prior to being killed while in custody.
Hall and Floyd, both originally from Houston, met in Minneapolis through a pastor. Hall, 42, was in the passenger seat of George Floyd’s car when his friend was detained by police and killed in Minneapolis on May 25.
Following George’s death, Hall fled to Houston where he was found and interviewed by a Minnesota state investigator for hours. He is considered a key witness in the investigation of the four police officers who arrested Floyd.
Hall, who witnessed the white police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as he pleaded ‘I can’t breathe’, has stated; ‘From the onset, he was doing his best to show that he was not resisting in any way.’
‘I could hear him pleading, “Please, officer, what’s all this for?”‘ he told the New York Times on Wednesday night.
Hall mentions that he and Floyd spent part of their last day together on May 25 before they were confronted by police on suspicion of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a deli.
‘At that time, he was desperately calling for help because he was dying.’
‘I will always remember seeing the terror in Floyd’s eyes because he’s such a leader. That’s the image that stays with me, seeing a grown man cry before witnessing a grown man die,’ he added.
‘When the whole world was finding out that they murdered George Floyd. I went and said a prayer where I witnessed him take his last breath, and I left,’ he said
‘I knew what was happening, that they were coming. It was inevitable. I’m a key witness to the cops murdering George Floyd, and they want to know my side. Whatever I’ve been through, it’s all over with now. It’s not about me,’ Hall said.