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Leaked video shows first moments of George Floyd's fatal arrest by Minneapolis officers

The bodycam video shows Floyd repeatedly telling officers he was claustrophobic and asking not to be locked inside the police vehicle.
Image:
A mural painted outside the Cup Foods store on Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis where George Floyd died.Brian Peterson / Star Tribune via AP file

Newly leaked bodycam video Monday showed a frightened George Floyd begging police not to lock him in a squad car, shortly before he lost consciousness under a police officer's knee.

The Daily Mail posted the leaked material on its site Monday, video that’s part of the case against four Minneapolis police officers who have been criminally charged in connection to Floyd's death.

While the source of the video was not immediately clear, the video matches some of what was shown to NBC News at the courthouse during pre-trial hearings for the officers.

Police were called to a convenience store on May 25 investigating a possible counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was parked a short distance away and an officer almost immediately pulled his weapon on the startled man, video showed.

"Please don't shoot me. Please, man," an alarmed Floyd said. "Please, man. I just lost my mom, man. Please don't shoot me, Mr. Officer, please. "

Officers pulled Floyd out of his car and handcuffed him over the $20 bill, before marching him to a nearby police vehicle where he pleaded not to be put inside.

"I am claustrophobic, for real," Floyd told them. "I'm going to die in here. I'm going to die, man."

Floyd eventually sat down on the back seat, without his legs completely inside.

"I'm claustrophobic. I'm claustrophobic. I got anxiety," he pleaded. "When I stop breathing, when I stop breathing it's going to go off on me, man."

Officers then struggled to pull Floyd inside, the bodycam video showed.

Floyd would eventually end up face down on the pavement, with officer Derek Chauvin's knee on his neck for about 8 minutes, bystander video showed.

Floyd pleaded "I can't breathe" while under Chauvin's knee and called out for his late mother, prosecutors have said.

Chauvin has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder. His fellow former officers — Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng — have all been charged with aiding and abetting murder.

Floyd's death sparked worldwide protests against systemic racism and police brutality.