Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Joanna Walters

Derek Chauvin trial: Minneapolis police chief says use of force violated policy – as it happened

Court is in recess until Tuesday morning

Court has finished for today. The murder trial of Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, in the death of George Floyd last May, will continue. Chauvin denies all the charges against him. We’ll have a fresh blog for you tomorrow, with a live stream of proceedings, from around 9.45amET/2.45pmBST, so do please tune in.

Here’s a summary of the main points today.

  • The Minneapolis precinct inspector and former commander of training for the Minneapolis police department, Katie Blackwell, began her testimony this afternoon and will continue on the stand tomorrow morning.
  • Earlier, in a measured but solidly strong way on behalf of the prosecution, the Minneapolis police chief, Medaria Arradondo, testified today. It was a rare move by the police chief or department. He testified against Chauvin, the officer he fired the day after Floyd died last May.
  • Arradondo said about the way Chauvin pinned Floyd to the street by his neck that he “vehemently disagree that that was appropriate use of force”.
  • The chief spelled out details of department policy and said in multiple ways that the way Chauvin and his subordinates subdued Floyd on the day was “absolutely” a violation of specific policies.
  • Arradondo said of Chauvin’s use of a knee to the neck that “that action goes contrary to what we are taught”.
  • Before he testified directly about Derek Chauvin and his arrest of George Floyd, the police chief said that while being under the influence of drugs can make a suspect more aggressive, it can also make them more vulnerable. He later spoke of an officer’s obligation to assess a suspect’s medical condition and render first aid in an emergency, before medical personnel arrive.
  • Earlier we blogged multiple items of analysis and commentary about how policing is on trial, this department is too, as is American justice, holding police accountable and making progress towards racial equity and fair law enforcement.

Updated

Court is just wrapping up for the day. But here’s an interesting piece of instant commentary a little earlier.

Van Jones, news and politics commentator for CNN and author, just declared himself impressed by the testimony of Minneapolis police chief Mediaria Arradondo – to the point where Jones confessed his “mouth was hanging open”.

Here’s the throwback to when CNN commentator Van Jones wept when Joe Biden’s election as the 46th president of the United States was called on 7 November 2020.
Here’s the throwback to when CNN commentator Van Jones wept when Joe Biden’s election as the 46th president of the United States was called on 7 November 2020. Photograph: CNN / youtube

He valued the detailed and measured explanations of how all the policy there to tell the officer he fired after George Floyd’s death last May, the now-defendant Derek Chauvin, was violated.

“I hope every police officer, chief and commissioner watches this, Jones said on CNN earlier.

“This is the professionalism people have been begging for, for 20 to 30 years,” he said.

Jones cited what he saw as a balance between trying to keep order in a city and also trying to generate and hold on to trust between the police and the community, especially minority communities, such as communities of color, LGBTQ+ communities, etc.

He described Arradondo’s approach as “what we want from modern policing”.

And concluded: “If every police chief acted like this and every officer followed training and policy from a police chief like this, most of what we see happening in this country would not be happening.”

He surely means with regard to all-too-common police brutality, excessive use of force, violation of civil rights and police-involved deaths and killings, especially of Black members of the American public, in particular younger Black men.

“My mouth was hanging open,” Jones said.

Last week Jones talked on CNN about the appalling survivors’ guilt suffered by eye-witnesses to George Floyd’s death.

Updated

Minneapolis police precinct inspector Katie Blackwell is being questioned by the prosecution now but she previously mentioned that defendant Derek Chauvin, who was a cop for 19 years before being fired after the death of George Floyd, and she were community service officers together back in the day.

Prior to her current role, she ran officer training for the department.

Derek Chauvin denies the charges of second degree murder, third degree murder and second degree manslaughter.

George Floyd was killed on 25 May last year, the Memorial Day holiday.

Updated

A quick recap of important moments in cross and re-exam of Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo.

But then with prosecutor Steve Schleicher.

This all appears geared by the defense simply to be able to slip a sliver of doubt into the minds of the jury, hoping that can wedge open enough uncertainty to allow just one juror, minimum, to decide that the prosecution has not proved beyond reasonable doubt that Chauvin was responsible for George Floyd’s death - either by murder or manslaughter.

Minneapolis police chief Mediaria Arradondo has now finished testifying. He picks up his chief’s hat from the witness stand in front of him and heads out.

The next witness will now be called. We are still on prosecution witnesses. It is to be Katie Blackwell, who used to run the training of Minneapolis police officers.

Until 31 January of this year, Blackwell was commander of the training division of the Minneapolis Police Department. But since the end of January she has been the inspector of the Fifth Precinct of the MPD.

She tells the prosecution, under questioning, that she also holds a high rank in the Minnesota National Guard. She has deployed to Bosnia on a peace-keeping mission and has deployed to Iraq, she said.

Blackwell is in uniform. Describes how she has worked in vice, narcotics, sex crimes, patrol supervisor, the assault unit and violent crime, then homicide.

She was promoted to lieutenant in 2019 and was assigned to the training division.

She became commander of training in April, 2019, she tells the court.

Updated

Arradondo is under re-examination by prosecutor Steve Schleicher.

The police chief was just shown stills and small clips of George Floyd being pinned to the street by his neck by now former officer Derek Chauvin.

Arradondo and Schleicher are using very dry language, but they are emphatic and pretty devastating.

Schleicher asks the witness if he agreed that“I did not observer Mr Floyd to be actively resisting” arrest. “Agree,” said Arradondo.

Schleicher of Floyd: “Was he passively resisting?”

Arradondo: “No.”

Then Arradondo adds that, in terms of the image and clip that the defense just showed in court, where Floyd looked to have been completely physically subdued: “As I saw that video I don’t even know if Mr Floyd was alive at that time.”

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testifies as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Monday, April 5, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged with murder in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd.
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testifies as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Monday, April 5, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged with murder in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. Photograph: AP

The chief also pointed out that in a situation such as the one Floyd was in, a suspect should be put on their side as soon as possible, not restrained on their front, to help them breathe. That’s a paraphrasing.

'Vehemently disagree that that was appropriate use of force' – police chief

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo has just been under cross-examination by lead defense attorney Eric Nelson.

Nelson points out that in terms of police policy, there is a difference between a chokehold and a neck restraint. He also notes that the policy states that an arm of leg can be used in a neck restraint.

Arradondo said he had a “couple of issues” with any idea that what Chauvin did to Floyd (pressing his knee into the side of his neck for nine minutes, 29 seconds) was within policy.

He points out that the officer is expected to try to establish whether a suspect is a threat, what is the severity of the crime they are suspected of and that they assess and continue to reassess the medical condition of the person the police are dealing with.

“I vehemently disagree that that was an appropriate use of force in that situation on May 25,” the police chief said, referencing the day in 2020, when Chauvin pinned Floyd to the street.

Updated

The court is just coming back from a short break, but here is a stark detail from the court room.

Coronavirus risks have imposed heavy restrictions on court. Only two media “pool” reporters are allowed into the court room itself. And defendant Derek Chauvin and the family of the late George Floyd were each allocated just one seat to use in the court room.

George Floyd’s brother, Terrence, attended court today. Previously, his brother Philonise Floyd has been the most frequent visitor to court.

Both have said that listening to testimony has been very difficult and they have to sit in court in the presence of Chauvin, of course.

Others have described the atmosphere in court as tense and hushed.

Chauvin has not been taking advantage of the seat in court to have any family, friends or others there for him.

Today we learned that the court has now removed the seat, because it’s not being used.

Drawing from court artist:Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill (top) listens as Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo (in uniform) answers questions on the sixth day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (left).
Drawing from court artist:
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill (top) listens as Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo (in uniform) answers questions on the sixth day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin (left). Photograph: Jane Rosenberg/Reuters

Here is the most important clip of the day so far. After so much harrowing video footage and lingering stills of then-officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck in the first day or two of last week, the jury and public has been spared.

But the prosecution decided it needed to show one of the defining images of the whole Floyd disaster, that picture of Chauvin, hand in pocket, sunglasses on his head, looking directly into a bystander’s phone camera, while Floyd is pinned under him.

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo, after he agreed that that did not constitute de-escalation, said: “When you talk about the sanctity of life and when you talk about the principles and values that we have, that action goes contrary to what we are taught.”

He went on to say that there is a policy of neck restraint in the Minneapolis police, although there was no discussion as to whether this involved holding someone by the neck or using a knee.

“The conscious neck restraint by policy mentions light to medium pressure. When you look at exhibit 17 [the image of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck] and when you look at the facial expression of Mr Floyd, that does not appear in any way, shape or form that that is light pressure,” Arradondo said. And he agreed that what he was seeing in the image, saying: “I absolutely agree that violates our policy.

Here’s the clip from CNN:

'I absolutely agree it violates our policy' – police chief

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo said that a neck restraint such as now-former police officer Derek Chauvin used on George Floyd was not acceptable.

“I absolutely agree it violates our policy,” Arradondo said.

He was looking at an image of the expression on George Floyd’s face as he was being pinned to the street by Chauvin pressing his knee into his neck.

To expand on that a bit.

The prosecution asked the chief about the neck restraint that Chauvin was using against, George Floyd - pressing down with his knee, within a discussion about the use of force, de-escalation and getting a suspect under control.

Arradondo said the same thing in a few different ways.

‘Absolutely that violates our policy,” Arradondo said. “Force has to be reasonable...for an entire encounter.”

The chief said use of force has to be “objectively reasonable” based on the threat level to the officer “and others”. The severity of the use of force by Chauvin, Arradondo said was “not part of our policies”.

Updated

'It's not part of our training … ethics or values' – police chief

Arradondo went on to say that “there was an initial reasonableness to get him under control in the first few seconds” in terms of the police restraining George Floyd.

But he then added: “To continue to apply that level of force to a person proned-out, handcuffed behind their back, that in no way, shape or form is anything that is by policy … it’s not part of our training and it’s certainly not part of our ethics or values.”

Updated

Police chief says that Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck 'goes contrary to what we are taught'

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo was just shown an infamous image, in the courtroom, of (now ex) police officer Derek Chauvin looking at the camera as a bystander records him kneeling on George Floyd’s neck on the street.

The prosecutor, Matthew Frank, asked if what the chief is seeing in that image is consistent with de-escalation policy of the department.

“I absolutely do not agree” that is constitutes de-escalation, Arradondo said.

“That action is not de-escalation. And when you talk about the framework of the sanctity of life ... that action goes contrary to what we are taught.

Updated

The jury has just heard about – indeed seen black and white from the pages of the Minneapolis police department policy manual – a crucial element about the use of force by police officers.

The policy states that: “Sanctity of life and the protection of the public shall be the cornerstones of the MPD’s use of force policy.”

Chief Medaria Arradondo said about this: “When officers go home at the end of their shift, we want to make sure that our community members go home, too.”

On 25 May last year, George Floyd went into a corner store in south Minneapolis to buy some smokes, with what was possibly a fake $20 that he maybe knew or maybe didn’t know was allegedly fake. If the offense occurred it is regarded in the law as a misdemeanor.

Derek Chauvin tried to arrest him, pinned him to the street and Floyd didn’t make it home that night but was declared dead in the emergency room of a hospital in Minneapolis.

The prosecution is proceeding at a relentless crawl to the point where we expect Arradondo will tell us that Chauvin should not have pinned Floyd by the neck.

Arradondo just told the court that a neck restraint is not to be used against a suspect who is “passively resisting”.

Updated

We’ve now turned to the use of force and what is reasonable force by a police officer.

Police chief Arradondo is talking about “objectively reasonable force”

It’s dry. But that really is the prosecution’s point, here.

One observer thinks the prosecution is doing a “fantastic” job.

Updated

'We absolutely have a duty' to render first aid – police chief

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo is now discussing under examination by prosecutor Matthew Frank department policy around police giving medical attention to someone who is in an emergency situation, while awaiting the arrival of medical professionals.

The department policy is that, while awaiting emergency medical services, if someone is in the care of the Minneapolis police department and is experiencing an acute medical crisis, the relevant officers “shall provide any necessary first aid”.

Arradondo said: “We absolutely have a duty” to render first aid in such a situation.

Just to recap that when the ambulance arrived to attend to George Floyd, Derek Chauvin did not take his weight off Floyd even though the man was unconscious and neither he nor any of the three officers with him had tried to give him first aid after he stopped breathing while his neck was being pressed by Chauvin kneeling on it.

Updated

All right, proceedings are a little dry as they get under way. Arradondo has still not testified yet about anything directly to do with the officer he fired and the defendant here, Derek Chauvin.

Meanwhile, Lem Seveer wrote for the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the African American newspaper based in south Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed last May, on the overt and covert hostility being displayed towards Black people in Minnesota and beyond right now by the way this trial is being handled. And that the policing problems that led to Floyd’s death is the fault of “the system”, not rogue actions.

Even the over the top security measures with the barbed wire, razor wire, fences and fully armed National Guardsman are insidious. Their very presence is designed to the send the message that it is those on the outside, the Black community, that is to be feared, rather than the murdering, racist, psychotic savage sitting at the defendant’s table trying to imitate a human being.

The security overkill is also aimed at discouraging the organizing of peaceful protests. It has people afraid to go downtown.

From the beginning, the defense’s motions appeared to be aimed at propagandizing those watching. On the first day of trial, the Minneapolis police federation’s mercenary defense attorney Eric Nelson claimed that Chauvin’s firing by African American Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo was “reflective of bias.” Purposely ignoring the fact that even the chief of police, had to admit like everyone else, that the video of Chauvin keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes was evidence of a crime.

Nelson actually fixed his lips to say there was “zero evidence that a crime had been committed.”

What he is telling the public –and what this trial will continue to communicate– that what we saw, and think we saw, is not legitimate. What we think and see is only legitimate when the system says so.

During the voir dire –that is questioning by the defense and prosecution– both sides spent time trying to convince potential jurors –while also propagandizing the viewing public– by continuing to insist that there are bad cops and good cops. Judge Cahill also encouraged this thinking.

But this flies in the face of the fact that so many cops continue to violate the rights of human beings—especially those that are Black and Brown—and so one can only conclude that it is the—system of policing that is the problem.

Here’s the full report from the MSR. Also, just reiterating that now-chief Arradondo sued the Minneapolis Police Department, along with four other Black officers, for racial bias in 2007, when he was a lieutenant.

Updated

Testimony by Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo will resume very shortly.

It will be interesting to see to what he extent he is asked about or offers anything that throws light on to what extent this is about individual officers, police training or the whole system.

More in a moment on that, here we go with proceedings after lunch.

Mid-day summary

As we wait for the court to return from an hour’s lunch recess, at 1.30pm Central Time in Minneapolis, here’s a recap of the main points of the morning.

  • Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo will continue testifying for the prosecution after the lunch break. He left us on the edge of our seats before the break - just about to get into talking about use of force, restraint, training and things relating to Derek Chauvin in particular.
  • The chief said that if a suspect is under the influence of alcohol or drugs it can make them more aggressive but it can also make them more vulnerable, of which the police need to be conscious when interacting.
  • We’ve given you analysis from our own and others’ journalism about defense tactics (accused of using racist tropes when questioning eye-witnesses), Arradondo’s record and the record of the Minneapolis police in disciplining officers who attract serious complaints.
  • The emergency room doctor who declared George Floyd dead at the hospital on May 25, 2020, said it did not appear that the man’s heart had been stopped by a heart attack, and that he had died of asphyxia.
  • To recap on the case: Minnesota has charged white former police officer Chauvin with the murder and manslaughter of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis last May, after Floyd was killed during an arrest. Chauvin denies all the charges. Three officers who were with him will stand trial together in August, accused of aiding and abetting murder.

Police chief affirms that drugs or alcohol can make a suspect "more vulnerable"

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo has not testified directly yet about the actions of the officer he swiftly fired, Derek Chauvin, on the day last May when he arrested George Floyd on suspicion of using a fake $20 bill (for the record - if proven, a misdemeanor which would have warranted a ticket).

But the prosecution is quietly and steadily leading up to it, and you can see where it’s going.

Prosecutor Steve Schleicher led the chief to affirm that a suspect who is under the influence can be less of a threat as well as more of a threat to police, depending on the circumstances.

The chief also said that: “When we get a call from the communities. It might not always be their best day. And we have to take that into consideration. We should try to meet them where they are.”

And he notes that police officer’s conduct in contact with a suspect is vital because “we may be the first and last time they have an interaction with a Minneapolis police officer so we have to make it count. It matters.”

At least three eye-witnesses to Floyd’s being pinned to the street by Derek Chauvin, with his knee pressing into his neck for more than nine minutes, “called the police on the police”.

The court is now breaking for an hour for lunch. But we’ll have some recaps for you in a moment.

Prosecutor Matthew Frank is taking Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo drily through aspects of police training and policy.

The effort appears designed not to prompt vivid quotes and headlines at this point, trying to keep it low key and rather technical, in order to establish credibility for the prosecution, veering more towards fact and details of protocol and away from opinion so far.

But there are elements to discern.

They’re talking about detaining and restraining suspects. Arradondo ways that the police rules state that the length of detention of a suspect should be “no longer than necessary to take appropriate action”.

He also says that the concept of “de-escalation” of a situation was not part of his training when he joined the police as a cadet in the city in 1989, but it very much is now.

Arradondo talks about the 700 officers under his command, in the city of Minneapolis, which has a population of around 420,000.

And as the public, wherever they may be, has access to the trial live if they have television or internet, one observer has noted this, which is very relevant considering that bystander video is central to the prosecution’s case that (now former) cop Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd last may.

Nekima Levy Armstrong has said how closely watched this murder trial of Derek Chauvin is, for its wider implications.

The former Minneapolis NAACP branch president told the Guardian she has watched her community rise up in response to unchecked police violence, only to have their spirits crushed by an acquittal and lack of grand jury indictments in previous police killings, such as the high-profile cases of Philando Castile, a Black man killed by police in a nearby suburb in 2016, and Jamar Clark, a Black man killed by city police in 2015.

“We have for too long lived inside of a culture of ignorance, not just in the US but worldwide,” she said.

“I don’t think that this country in particular, but the world itself, has ever had to reconcile the mistreatment, the abuse and the dehumanization of Black folks. But for some people, they’re now beginning to see we have a problem, and we need to begin to take steps to address these problems.”

And she further told Democracy Now, about the police union, the Minneapolis Police Federation:

Unfortunately, the Minneapolis Police Federation has been a very toxic organization. Typically, when police officers have killed people in the city of Minneapolis, now-former federation president Bob Kroll would go in front of the media and would essentially hail cops as heroes. He would say that their conduct was justified. And he would engage in the demonization of victims of police violence and police murder. Now Bob Kroll has since retired at the end of January, as a result of a lot of community pressure and pressure from activists. There is a new leader. It’s unclear how they will respond as the trial unfolds. But in the early days after George Floyd was killed, Bob Kroll actually went in front of the media and tried to justify the conduct of those officers and engaged in demonizing George Floyd, talking about his past and things that really were not relevant to what happened on May 25th of 2020 that led to his death.

Now, conversely, when Mohamed Noor, who was the Black Muslim Somali officer who killed Justine Ruszczyk Damond in July of 2017, the union was pretty silent with regards to supporting him. We didn’t see the press conferences and the justifications for Mohamed Noor’s actions as we had seen in previous cases in which officers were being blamed for killing someone. So there’s a definite double standard at play. And I do believe that race matters with regard to how the federation responds in these situations.

As the Guardian reported, Bob Kroll described George Floyd, in the rapid aftermath of Floyd’s death, as a violent criminal, which is not true.

My colleague Chris McGreal prepared this report on Kroll, who enjoyed sharing a rally stage with Donald Trump.

Updated

Minneapolis police as much on trial as individual (former) officer - attorney/activist

Minneapolis civil rights lawyer Nekima Levy Armstrong has opined in recent days that prosecutors in the case clearly established that “the actions of [former police officer] Derek Chauvin played the most critical role in cutting off the air supply of George Floyd,” leading to his death, while the defense appears to be resorting to a strategy of victim-blaming.

“I was really dismayed to see them try to deflect blame to bystanders and to blame George Floyd himself for his own death,” Armstrong, a former president of the Minneapolis NAACP, has told Democracy Now.

She was then asked: “What about the stance of the prosecutor that this trial is about Derek Chauvin rather than the police force at large?

Armstrong said: “Of course, I’m very troubled by that line. Minneapolis police have a long history of engaging in excessive force, and even being allowed to murder people with impunity.

“Their reputation is very well known, particularly amongst Black people and other people of color within the city of Minneapolis. And it’s well documented.

“Our City Council has settled tens of millions of dollars in excessive force lawsuits over the years because of the wayward conduct of MPD. So, from my vantage point, they are just as much on trial as Derek Chauvin, and hopefully those other three officers who aided and abetted him.”

Armstrong talked about a witness called last week, Alisha Oyler, who was a cashier at a gas station near where George Floyd was killed. It’s no longer a gas station, it has become part of the community space known as George Floyd Square.

She mentioned her testifying that the cops were always, quote-unquote, “messing with people” in that neighborhood, which shows that there is a track record of engaging people in a negative way, often for very little reason, Democracy Now reported.

Below is the Guardian’s recent report on George Floyd Square - the future of which is in the balance.

And Armstrong spoke to CBS last week as harrowing eye-witness testimony and video of George Floyd’s death was unfolding.

Updated

As the Minneapolis police chief continues to describe rather mundane aspects of how the department works, here are some nuggets of relevant information.

He’s had a lot of experience over a number of different roles with the department since he was a cadet in 1989.

The Guardian has noted how chief Medaria Arradondo was thrust into the national spotlight as soon as Floyd’s death occurred last May. He moved to fire the four officers involved in the incident within days, in the face of significant criticism from Minneapolis’s police union, who accused him of acting “without due process”. They were then arrested.

“This was a violation of humanity,” Arradondo said a few days after Floyd was killed. “This was a violation of the oath that the majority of the men and women that put this uniform on [take] – this goes absolutely against it. This is contrary to what we believe in.”

At the same time, a majority of the city council explored efforts to disband the entire police force and later voted to divert significant police funding, $8m, into other public services including new mental health teams created to respond to certain 911 calls. The department also saw a “staggering” number of officers seeking disability payments in the wake of the uprising that gripped the city, sparking fears of a staffing shortage.

“The chief is under tremendous pressure,” said Laurie Robinson, former assistant US attorney general and the co-chair of Barack Obama’s Taskforce on 21st-Century Policing, created in the wake of the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. “This may be the hardest police chief job in the country at this point, between the tensions around this trial, pressures from the community dealing with the aftermath of the George Floyd death, the calls for changes in the department and the protection of the community that’s dealing with rising gun violence and crime.”

Some local activists acknowledged the significance of Arradondo’s coming testimony but argued it was only a first step.

“It’s a good thing that he’s going to testify against [Derek] Chauvin but at the same time we need justice,” said DJ Hooker, a 26 year-old local organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement. “Getting Chauvin convicted, that’s a way to get justice. Getting the other three killer cops convicted, that’s another way to get justice. But also, getting systemic change. That’s also justice. And that’s also what we need to work on getting.”

Meanwhile, the New York Times in a report at the weekend noted that: “Since 2012 only one percent of adjudicated complaints against Minneapolis police officers resulted in disciplinary action, according to city records.”

Derek Chauvin, on trial here for the murder of George Floyd, had multiple complaints made against him in his 19 years in the department, at least 22 complaints, by the Times’s count, only one of which resulted in his being officially disciplined. Chauvin denies all the charges against him.

The testimony of Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo, now being questioned by prosecutor Steve Schleicher, is going painstakingly through his 30-plus career as a cop in the city.

So he will probably be on the stand for a few hours.

Arradondo fired Derek Chauvin the day after George Floyd died on 25 May 2020. He later described the killing as murder.

“This was murder – it wasn’t a lack of training,” Arradondo said last year in a statement on the video footage of Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on the neck of Floyd, a 46-year-old handcuffed Black man, for more than nine minutes.

Chauvin has pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges, arguing that he did only what he was trained to do in his 19 years as a police officer.

Reuters adds:

Prosecutors from the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office hope Arradondo’s testimony will convince a jury otherwise.

“He will not mince any words,” Jerry Blackwell, one of the prosecutors, told the jury in his opening statement last Monday. “He’s very clear, he’ll be very decisive that this was excessive force.”

Police chiefs testifying against one of their own current or former police officers is unusual, even given how rarely officers face criminal prosecution, experts in police misconduct said.

Updated

Chief Arradondo is being questioned by prosecutor Steve Schleicher and tells the court that the motto of the Minneapolis police department is “protect with courage, serve with compassion”.

The top cop sued the department in 2007 back when he was a lieutenant, along with other African American police officers, accusing it of racial discrimination.

Arradondo is now talking about his training. He’s earing his blue police shirt, with four gold stars on each side of the collar, a dark tie and his police badge on the left-hand side of his chest.

He’s worked for the department since 1989, when he joined as a cadet.

He’s taking the prosecution through his career with the department. He says he had many experience as a patrol officer arresting people, including those who would not cooperate, and putting them in handcuffs.

Updated

Minneapolis police chief to begin testimony

Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo has just taken the stand as a witness for the prosecution. He has been chief since 2017 and is the department’s first ever Black chief of police.

Arradondo says he was born in Minneapolis and he lives and was brought up in the “Twin Cities”s, indicating Minneapolis and its adjacent sister city St Paul. The chief says he studied for a criminal justice degree in Michigan and also obtained his masters.

My colleague Oliver Laughland wrote this last week about the expected appearance of Arradondo, which is an extremely rare event in a criminal trial of a serving or past cop.

The break in the trial is over. Defense attorney Eric Nelson, upon resumption, cross examined emergency room doctor Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, who is on the stand as a prosecution witness.

He immediately got the doctor to confirm that death by oxygen deficiency, aka asphyxia, can be caused by an overdose on fentanyl or methamphetamine and by a combination of both of those drugs.

George Floyd was found to have both drugs in his system when his official post-mortem was carried out by the county medical examiner’s office.

The defense intends to show that Floyd died primarily of a drug overdose or heart attack, not that he was choked to death by now-former police officer Derek Chauvin (who is on trial in Minneapolis and denies murder).

The police chief is now going to testify.

“I hoped that I wasn’t hearing dog whistles. Turns out I was.”

That is one conclusion from Mary Moriarty, writing analysis in the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder (MSR). The MSR office is located just four blocks from where George Floyd was killed on 38th street and the junction with Chicago Avenue, outside the Cup Foods corner story, in the neighborhood of south Minneapolis.

The MSR is one of the oldest African-American newspapers in the US, published for the last 85 years, and is covering the murder trial of Derek Chauvin with reporting, analysis and opinion.

The striking headline on Moriarty’s April 2 piece, quoted above, was “Chauvin defense falls back on racist stereotypes”.

Moriarty writes:

What is the Chauvin defense theory? From the motions they filed, we knew they were going to argue that George Floyd died of an accidental drug overdose. During the opening, however, they introduced this “unruly mob” idea, that the officers felt so threatened that they were prevented from providing “care” for Floyd. When this “angry mob” theory suddenly appeared in the defense opening, I hoped that I wasn’t hearing dog whistles. Turns out I was.

One by one the people who were forced to watch Floyd be killed by the police took the witness stand to tell their stories. Four young women under the age of 18, a Black man, an off-duty firefighter, and an older Black man all described, often through tears, their feelings of powerless, as well as the anguish and guilt with which they continue to live. Each witness courageously testified, and all deserve respect and empathy.

Yet, most were questioned by the defense in an oddly hostile way.

First, there was Donald Williams, whose voice we hear in the videos calling Chauvin a “bum,” while pleading with him to get off Floyd’s neck. At one point during his testimony, Williams dabbed at the tears in his eyes with a tissue when he recounted how completely powerless he felt watching Floyd being murdered before his eyes.

The defense cross-examination strategy seemed designed to goad Williams into admitting he was angry. After listing the many names Williams called Chauvin and [fellow officer Tou] Thao, the defense repeatedly challenged Williams to acknowledge his anger.

“Angry?” I thought. “Who wouldn’t be angry watching the police kill a man before his or her eyes?” But then I heard the whistle and I realized Williams, a Black man, was going to be Exhibit 1 for the defense, an angry Black man threatening the police and preventing them from providing the medical care we have been told they so desperately wanted to provide to Floyd.

The last questions asked by the defense of young Darnella Frazier during her cross-examination were about her posting the video on Facebook and having it go “viral.” “It changed your life?” said the defense lawyer. “Yes,” she answered. The defense asked no more questions. What were we, and the jury, to make of this? Did it bring this young woman, who talked about her social anxiety, the fame, and attention she was seeking?

One of the cardinal rules of cross-examination is never to ask a question to which you do not know the answer. When the state had the opportunity to question her again, the prosecutor asked, “How did it change your life?” And this is when we heard, for the first time, that when this young Black woman saw George Floyd, she saw her father, her brother and her uncles. Through her tears, she told us that she often stays up at night praying to George Floyd and apologizing that she didn’t do more to help him.

Why did the defense lawyer assume that this young Black woman benefitted from filming and posting the murder of a Black man? It was creepily reminiscent of the postcards of lynchings that White people used to send to each other. At minimum, this question, and the assumption behind it, reflect a devaluation of Black life–of a man who was murdered, and a young woman traumatized by being witness to what happened to him.

But this case is not about race. That is what the defense lawyer said twice to one of the prospective jurors. I wondered why he thought he could say such a thing because, in my mind, this case is all about race.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell just arrived at his destination with his witness, hospital emergency doctor Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld.

The doctor first signaled that he heard no feedback from the paramedics who brought George Floyd to the hospital that the man was there because of a drug overdose or heart attack.

Langenfeld then went on to describe his attempts to revive Floyd, and his analysis after Floyd had been in cardiac arrest for more than 30 minutes and had been declared dead, was that he didn’t find evidence that would have led him to believe that a heart attack had stopped the heart.

He concluded, in essence, that Floyd’s death had come about because of oxygen deficiency.

Blackwell asked him for another way to describe death by oxygen deficiency.

“Asphyxia,” Langenfeld said. Blackwell said “no further questions” and the court began a 20-minute break.

Blackwell is trying to get out ahead of the defense who want to show that Floyd died of a heart attack brought about by drug use and underlying conditions, not that his heart stopped after he was asphyxiated by the police officers holding him down.

Dr. Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, the doctor who pronounced George Floyd dead, testifies as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Monday, April 5, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd.
Dr. Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld, the doctor who pronounced George Floyd dead, testifies as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides Monday, April 5, 2021, in the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. Chauvin is charged in the May 25, 2020 death of George Floyd. Photograph: AP

Updated

There is no doubt that policing in America is on trial right now, with so much attention focused on this case.

On the day of opening arguments, George Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, described the prosecution’s murder case as a “slam dunk” based on bystander video showing then-police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck as he and two other officers had the man pinned to the street.

But the Washington Post advocates caution, bringing this report on the track record of conviction of police officers when they kill members of the public.

Prosecutors face a steep legal challenge in winning a conviction against a police officer. Despite nationwide protests, police are rarely charged when they kill someone on duty. And even when they are, winning convictions is often difficult.

Between 2005 and 2015, more than 1,400 officers were arrested for a violence-related crime committed on duty, according to data tracked by Philip M. Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University.

In 187 of those cases, victims were fatally injured in shootings or from other causes. The officers charged represent a fraction of the hundreds of thousands of police officers working for about 18,000 departments nationwide.

Police charged with committing violent crimes while on duty were convicted more than half the time during that period. In the most serious cases — those involving murder or manslaughter — the conviction rate was lower, hovering around 50 percent.

In comparison, about 6 in 10 people charged with violent crimes were convicted, according to a federal report that examined cases adjudicated in the country’s 75 most populous counties in 2009.

The number increased to 70 percent when murder was the most serious charge. Most criminal cases in the United States end in plea bargains, rather than court trials.

“The law favors the police, the law as it exists,” said David Harris, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh and an expert in policing.

“Most people, I think, believe that it’s a slam dunk,” Harris said of the case against Chauvin. But he said, “the reality of the law and the legal system is, it’s just not.”

Emergency doctor who declared George Floyd's death testifies

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell is questioning his witness, emergency hospital doctor Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld.

Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell.
Prosecutor Jerry Blackwell. Photograph: Reuters

He asked the doctor whether paramedics who brought Floyd into the hospital in Minneapolis told him that Floyd was in the condition he was in because of a drug overdose.

“No,” said Langenfeld.

Blackwell asked: Had the paramedics told the doctor that Floyd had had a heart attack?

“No,” said Langenfeld.

The defense is expected to try to convince the jury that George Floyd died because of those above situations, with underlying medical conditions contributing - not from asphyxiation because of Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck.

Langenfeld said that the team at the hospital tried for about 30 minutes to revive Floyd after his lifeless body was brought into the emergency department.

We had been expecting that the Minneapolis police chief, Medaria Arradondo, might have been the first witness up on the stand today. But he has not been called yet. The court has released a full list of witnesses planned by the prosecution and defense, but there has not been an order of appearance issued, so there is an element of estimation involved in trying to figure out who’s taking the stand and when.

The trial is likely to continue all week and into next week. The defense has not called its witnesses yet. Debate is still ongoing with the judge about who can be called and what topics discussed.

Updated

Former police officer Derek Chauvin, the defendant who has been in court every day since jury selection began on 8 March, worked at the Minneapolis police department for almost two decades.

The Star Tribune newspaper has been examining his conduct record and also reporting critics the system in which Chauvin was a trainer of other officers.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill presides during the sixth day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill presides during the sixth day of the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Photograph: Reuters

Following a previous post, the Star Tribune report adds about officers who were serving under Chauvin when they attempted to arrest George Floyd, Thomas Lane and Alexander Kueng:

Critics have blamed the training program for fostering a culture of aggressive policing that stretches back decades.

Retired Minneapolis Deputy Chief Greg Hestness wondered how much of Lane and Kueng’s trainers may have rubbed off on the rookie officers, saying he was struck by how quickly their arrest of Floyd over a fake $20 bill escalated into Lane yelling at Floyd to “show me your [expletive] hands!”

“Where does that come from on Day 4?” he asked.

“A really cynical but deserving question is would Chauvin have knelt on him for that long if he wasn’t training the officers at that time?” said Michael Friedman, a former executive director of the Legal Rights Center, saying it seemed Chauvin was “trying to demonstrate how to control a person.”

Gerald Moore, a retired 30-plus-year veteran of the Minneapolis Police Department, said that because rookie officers must pass regular evaluations before they can go out on their own, it can create unhealthy power dynamics with their training officers.

To some, the larger problem is a tendency of some officers not to question and intervene when a colleague — particularly a senior officer — uses excessive force.

After Floyd’s death, Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced a stricter “duty to intervene” policy that says officers who witness another officer “use any prohibited force, or inappropriate or unreasonable force” must attempt to “safely intervene by verbal and physical means.”

For years, groups like Communities United Against Police Brutality have pushed for the department to adopt a peer intervention training program developed by the New Orleans Police Department that is based on the premise that there is a tendency for officers not to intervene when they see a colleague engage in misconduct.

The program, called Ethical Policing Is Courageous, or EPIC, is built on the premise that intervention must be taught through training and role-playing and must be continually reinforced through more training to the point that it infuses the departmental culture.

St. Paul police participate in the training, but Minneapolis has not. The debate over police training has been brewing in Minneapolis in recent years after a series of high-profile on-duty killings of civilians.

Updated

Testimony is now getting underway.

A doctor who tried to save George Floyd’s life on the night he died and, indeed, was the individual who pronounced him dead, is now on the stand being questioned by prosecutor Jerry Blackwell.

The witness is medical Dr Bradford Wankhede Langenfeld.

On Memorial Day last year, Langenfeld was working in the emergency department of the Hennepin County medical center in Minneapolis, where he was a senior resident.

“I provided the majority of direct patient care” for George Floyd when he was brought into the hospital.

Blackwell: “When Mr Floyd was brought in would you describe it as an emergency situation?”

Langenfeld: “Yes, absolutely”.

The doctor said Floyd’s heart had stopped.

'Salty dogs'

Derek Chauvin wasn’t just an officer in the Minneapolis police department when he encountered George Floyd on 25 May 2020, he was also a trainer of fellow officers.

There is some slightly different data being examined by different outlets, but here is very pertinent reporting from the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper:

Over his 19 years with the Minneapolis Police Department, Derek Chauvin … racked up 17 misconduct complaints and was involved in four on-duty shootings or other fatal encounters.

Yet despite an ever-thickening personnel file, Chauvin continued to serve as a field training officer, or FTO, even mentoring one of the two rookie cops who first interacted with Floyd outside of a South Side convenience store last May.

In body camera footage, some of which was played during testimony last week, that officer, J. Alexander Kueng, referred to Chauvin as “sir.” The other officer, Thomas Lane, followed Chauvin’s direction to stay put after he asked whether Floyd should be repositioned as they pinned him to the ground before he lost consciousness and died.

Revelations about Chauvin’s history and his conduct on the day Floyd died have drawn further scrutiny of his training role even though his superiors were aware of his at-times questionable decision-making.

Several new hires have quit the force in recent months because they could not take the harassment they endured from their training officers, according to a department source knowledgeable about the departures.

Over the past decade, only four Minneapolis officers have been removed as trainers because they were unfit, according to department records. Three officers were stripped of their training duties in 2018 – two for disciplinary reasons and another in 2014 who was deemed a “Poor Instructor.”

Kueng and Lane had been working unsupervised for less than a week. Chauvin was among the rotation of senior officers whom Kueng was assigned to shadow during his probationary period.

After graduating from the police academy, new hires usually spend six to seven months riding along with more experienced officers to supplement what they learned in the classroom about proper use of force and other aspects of police work.

In practice, though, months of academy lessons can be undone by jaded veterans – “salty dogs” in Minneapolis police parlance – who set an example with their unnecessarily aggressive behavior.

Updated

Legal arguments are continuing, with lawyers debating with judge Peter Cahill about what should and should not be allowed in testimony about use of force by police and how many officers should take the stand.

And particularly, Cahill is concerned about allowing too many police officers to give their opinions about what happened in the encounter between Chauvin and George Floyd, rather than baldly describing, for example, training policies and answering questions from the prosecution and cross-examination from the defense about matters like that.

We’re expecting not just the Minneapolis police chief to testify but also the lieutenant who is in charge of training officers and an officer who runs what’s being called the department’s “crisis intervention program”.

Testimony should begin soon on this sixth day of proceedings in the murder trial of former officer Derek Chauvin, charged in the death of George Floyd last May.

It’s looking increasingly likely that we will get Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo on the stand for the prosecution today. Arradondo (often known informally in the Twin Cities as “Rondo”) became chief in 2017.

He very quickly condemned the killing of George Floyd, calling it murder last summer. He had swiftly fired Chauvin and the three officers who helped him in the arrest of Floyd.

We expect that Arradondo will work hard to keep the focus on Chauvin and make efforts to show that the former officer stepped outside his training and police principles when he pinned down Floyd and knelt on his neck, even after the man was unconscious. (Floyd died on 25 May 2020. Chauvin denies murder.)

However, it will be difficult for the chief to divorce the department from the officer. Chauvin had been a police officer in Minneapolis for 19 years and had multiple complaints against him and evidence that he had used his knee to hold people down before, including by the neck.

The Marshall Project has reported that:

Nearly three years before the Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd as he cried that he couldn’t breathe last May, Zoya Code found herself in a similar position: handcuffed facedown on the ground, with Chauvin’s knee on her.

The officer had answered a call of a domestic dispute at her home, and Code said he forced her down when she tried to pull away.

“He just stayed on my neck,” Code said, ignoring her desperate pleas to get off. Frustrated and upset, she challenged him to press harder. “Then he did. Just to shut me up,” she said.

Code’s case was one of six arrests as far back as 2015 that the Minnesota attorney general’s office sought to introduce, arguing that they showed how Chauvin was using excessive force when he restrained people by their necks or by kneeling on top of them – just as he did in arresting Floyd. Police records show that Chauvin was never formally reprimanded for any of these incidents, even though at least two of those arrested said they had filed formal complaints.

Of the six people arrested, two were Black, one was Latino and one was Native American. The race of two others was not included in the arrest reports that reporters examined …

… Chauvin, who was fired, has said through his attorney that his handling of Floyd’s arrest was a reasonable use of authorized force. But he was the subject of at least 22 complaints or internal investigations during his more than 19 years at the department, only one of which resulted in discipline.

Defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, in court last month.
Defense attorney Eric Nelson, left, and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, right, in court last month. Photograph: AP

Updated

The judge in the Derek Chauvin trial, Peter Cahill, has entered the courtroom, in his customary black face mask to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

He’s just told the jury that there are some off-video, off-audio legal matters to deal with, so court is effectively going off air for a little while as that takes place, prior to witnesses being called and proceedings getting under way in public.

We’ll keep you posted, of course. The live stream is now fixed, silently, on the image of the seal of the state of Minnesota, on the wall behind the judge, as he takes the jury through some stuff.

It shouldn’t go without saying that of course the regular Guardian US politics live blog is running, with my colleague Joan Greve at the helm. You can follow that here.

Updated

If, as expected, Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo testifies for the prosecution in the trial of the officer he fired after George Floyd’s killing, Derek Chauvin, it will be one of the most significant moments of the proceedings.

When Arradondo was a lieutenant, in 2007, he and four other African American officers sued the department alleging discrimination in promotions, pay and discipline.

Medaria Arradondo in Minneapolis last June.
Medaria Arradondo in Minneapolis last June. Photograph: Jim Mone/AP

Now he’s in charge, the first Black police chief in Minneapolis.

On the weekend, the New York Times reported its own analysis and investigation, finding that:

Only about 20% of Minneapolis residents are Black, but about 60% of use-of-force incidents with the city’s police involve Black people … the city’s police officers use force against Black people at seven times the rate of white people.

Body-weight pinning, which Derek Chauvin used on Mr Floyd, is one of the most popular use-of-force mechanisms in Minneapolis and it, too, is employed in a racially disparate way.

Since 2015, Minneapolis officers have used it against 2,200 times against Black people, more than twice as many times as they have used it against white people.

The influence of the city’s police union, the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, has made reforming the department a struggle, some analysts say.

There have been some limited reforms since Floyd’s death. More on that in upcoming posts.

Updated

More police witnesses to testify in trial of former fellow officer

Hello, Guardian liveblog readers, welcome back to our dedicated blog on the trial in Minneapolis of white former police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with murdering George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, in the city last May.

The proceedings are being livestreamed from the courtroom in downtown Minneapolis and we are including this stream at the top of the blog, so do tune in.

This is day six of testimony and the prosecution is still calling witnesses. Last week was harrowing, with eye-witnesses to Floyd’s death recalling their horror and helplessness and continuing trauma at watching Chauvin kneel on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes on the ground, and the playing of multiple bystander videos of the fatal encounter.

Chauvin, 45, denies all the charges against him: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Opening arguments took place last Monday as the trial got fully under way.

Then later in the week, police officers started taking the stand, describing their role in securing the scene after Floyd had been taken away by ambulance, lifeless, and locating witnesses.

And the city’s top homicide detective and longest serving current officer , Lieutenant Richard Zimmerman, testified that Chauvin’s use of force was “uncalled for” and dangerous.

Here’s a recap and analysis of last week’s proceedings or if you’re very short of time, a bullet-point review, here.

With Floyd’s killing in particular spurring a huge resurgence in the Black Lives Matter racial justice movement last year and the biggest civil rights uprisings since the 1960s, this trial is in the world’s spotlight and American socio-politics and, especially, race, equity and policing, are in focus. Minneapolis is on edge, the Minnesota city braced for the outcome.

Here’s what’s coming up:

  • Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo is due to testify for the prosecution, perhaps as early as today. This is a very rare occurrence indeed, for a serving police chief to testify at a trial of an officer or former officer.
  • Arradondo fired Chauvin and the other three officers who were involved in arresting George Floyd on 25 May last year. The other officers will stand trial in August, together, accused of aiding and abetting murder.
  • The trial has heard from bystanders, George Floyd’s girlfriend, and now is hearing from police. After this we expect medical experts to testify about what exactly caused and contributed to Floyd’s death.
  • Protesters have been outside court every day. Sometimes relatives of Floyd, mostly his brother, Philonise Floyd, talk to them upon heading into the court house.
  • The coronavirus pandemic has heavily restricted public and media presence in the court room, which is why for the first time in its history, Minnesota is allowing the full televising of this criminal trial.

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
What Happened To Kelly Osbourne? BRIT Awards Appearance Sparks Frenzy As She Slams 'Ozempic Face' Speculation
Kelly Osbourne confronts body-shaming comments following her appearance at the 2026 BRIT Awards, addressing speculation about her weight loss and health.
International Business Times UK
International Business Times UK
SNL Was Forced To Change A Sketch At The Last Minute And Complained About It On The Air
Fear. Rage. Chaos.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Woman sees her favorite singer started following her on Instagram and jumps with excitement. Then she opened their account: ‘This is humiliating’
TikTok creator Paloma (@whor3chata_) is sparking a massive wave of sympathy (and second-hand embarrassment) on TikTok with her recent grwm story. The creator shared the “before and after” of being followed by one of her favorite singers on Instagram. Sadly, the “after” is humiliating.
The Mary Sue
The Mary Sue
Harry Styles, fake stage invaders and a censored Peter Mandelson joke: the biggest moments at the Brit awards
The ITV censors had their work cut out in a protest-filled, relatively edgy ceremony that hosted ultra-expressive performances from Rosalía, Wolf Alice and more
The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Meet the Gen Z college students who turned Excel into a competitive esport—they’re competing in spreadsheet challenges and it’s helping them land jobs
Microsoft-backed spreadsheet competitions are turning Gen Z college students into job-market standouts.
Fortune
Fortune
As Jennifer Lopez’s Kids Turn 18, An Insider Drops Claims About Their ‘Atypical’ Childhood
The kids are alright.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play