Medical Examiner Who Performed George Floyd Autopsy
Reveals Primary Cause Of Death As Neck Compression
The medical examiner who performed the autopsy on George Floyd after his lethal encounter with Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin, testified Friday that the primary cause of Mr. Floyd’s death was the fact that he was restrained and the pressure applied to his neck. Other contributing factors were drugs and heart disease.
“Cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression,” said Andrew Baker, Hennepin counties chief medical examiner. In other words, Mr. Floyd would not have died if it had not been for the actions of Derek Chauvin.”
“Those events are going to cause stress hormones to pour out into your body, specifically things like adrenaline. And what that adrenaline is going to do is make your heart beat faster. It’s going to ask your body for more oxygen so you can get through that altercation. And in my opinion, the law enforcement, subdural restraint and the neck compression was just more than Mr. Floyd could take by virtue of those heart conditions.”
Chauvin’s defense team have argued that Floyd’s health issues and drugs, were to blame for his death, not a knee compressed to his neck.
Dr. Baker said if circumstances are unclear as to a person’s cause of death, medical examiners are allowed to determine the cause as “undetermined.” However, in this case he said Floyd’s death was a “homicide.”
Sources: The Week, The New York Times
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