George Floyd restraint seemed 'reasonable,' ex-officer testifies

Pinning George Floyd face down on a Minneapolis road in a May 2020 arrest seemed reasonable in the moment, one of three former Minneapolis police officers on trial for violating the handcuffed Black man's civil rights testified on Monday.

Thomas Lane was the third of the three defendants to take the stand in his own defense at the federal trial in the U.S. District Court in St. Paul, charged with denying Floyd's right to receive medical aid once in police custody.

Answering questions from his lawyer Earl Gray, Lane told the jury how he had called over the radio for an ambulance after seeing Floyd's mouth bleeding from his struggle with Lane and another officer trying to get him in the back of a police car.

He became emotional as he recalled helping Floyd onto a stretcher and seeing Floyd's face several minutes after he fallen unresponsive beneath Lane and two other officers.

"He didn't look good," Lane said, his voice beginning to waver.