MINNEAPOLIS – Firefighter Genevieve Hansen told the court in the Derek Chauvin murder trial that she was walking home and happened across the scene where George Floyd was being held down by police. Hansen, off duty at the time, said she recognized Floyd’s life was in peril. As someone trained for medical emergencies, Hanen said she implored the officers to let her help. She was blocked, Hansen said. She told the court she felt helpless. “There is a man being killed,” she recalled. In other circumstances in her job as a firefighter she said she would have provided medical attention. About Floyd, she said: “This human was denied that right.” In a video of the incident, Hansen directed angry profanities at the police. Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, pressed Hansen on whether she was angry, apparently as part of his defense that Chauvin was frustrated and distracted by a growing crowd of bystanders. Hansen turned testy at Nelson’s questioning: “I don’t know if you’ve seen anyone be killed, but it’s upsetting.” Nelson persisted: Would Hansen be distracted as firefighter if people were yelling or threatening her during a fire. No, she said. She would be confident in doing the job she was trained to do.
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GEORGE FLOYD MURDER TRIAL
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Hansen. In firefighter uniform she testified that police obstructed her from trying to save George Floyd’s life.