George Floyd death: Leaked bodycam footage shows critical moments before fatal arrest as he begs 'please don't shoot'

Harrowing new footage has emerged of a tearful George Floyd pleading with officers to "please don't shoot me" in the moments before his fatal arrest in Minneapolis.

The new police bodycam footage, leaked to the Mail Online, shows Mr Floyd begging officers not to harm him while passengers in his car insist he is "a good guy".

Mr Floyd is seen repeatedly apologising to officers and complaining of claustrophobia and anxiety before evenutally being restrained on the ground following the stop on May 25.

The 46-year-old African American man's death sparked outrage around the world after a video emerged of white officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes as Mr Floyd gasped: "I can't breathe".

Chauvin has been charged with second degree murder.

The newly leaked recordings were captured on the body-worn cameras of former officers Thomas Lane and J Keung who were fired and eventually charged for their involvement in Mr Floyd's death.

The leaked footage shows Mr Lane tap on the window of a car that Mr Floyd is driving.

"Let's see your hands," says the officer as Mr Floyd opens the car door.

The 46-year-old man immediately begins apologising to the officer, saying "I'm sorry" repeatedly and "please Mr officer" as he complies with Mr Lane's request to show his hands.

"I didn't do nothing", Mr Floyd tells Mr Lane as he begins to cry saying, "I got shot the same way Mr officer before".

"I just lost my mum," Mr Floyd adds as he continues to cry and beg Mr Lane not to shoot him.

When one of the officers asks a woman who was in the car with Mr Floyd why he was "acting squirrelly" she explains that "he's been shot before". A second passenger tells the officer that Mr Floyd is a "good guy".

Mr Lane and Mr Keung walk Mr Floyd to a squad car but he refuses to enter the vehicle, saying he has claustrophobia.

"Stand up. Stop falling down," Mr Keung shouts when Mr Floyd falls to the ground.

"Please man. Don't leave me by myself man, please. I'm just claustrophobic," Mr Floyd says as he continues to plead with the officers.

He adds: "Y'all, I am going to die in here. I'm going to die, man. I just had Covid, man. I don't want to go back to that."

A bystander tells Mr Floyd to calm down because he "can't win".

But Mr Floyd replies: "I don't want to win. I'm claustrophobic and I've got anxiety. I don't want to do nothing to them."

It's at this point that Mr Chauvin and Mr Thao arrive at the scene.

When he's finally in the car Mr Floyd says "I can't breathe". He then ends up on the ground outside of the car struggling while the officers pin him down.

Mr Chauvin presses his knee on Mr Floyd's desk while Mr Lane and Mr Keung help to restrain him.

At one point Mr Floyd says: "Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."

The officers tell him he's fine but Mr Floyd continues to express difficulty breathing.

"I'll probably just die this way," he says. "I'm through. I'm claustrophobic. My stomach hurts. My neck hurts. Everything hurts. I need some water or something, please."

At one point Mr Lane asks: "Should we roll him on his side?" But Mr Chauvin says no and explains that an ambulance is on its way.

At 8.27pm, Chauvin removed his knee from an unconcious Mr Floyd's neck. He was taken to a nearby hopsital and pronounced dead an hour later.

Mr Lane and Mr Keung's bodycam videos were filed with Hennepin Country District Court by Mr Lane's defence attorney.

The recordings were released in July but they are only available for viewing by appointment.

An independent autopsy commissioned Mr Floyd's family said he died of "mechanical asphyxia" due to neck and back compression.

His family has since filed a lawsuit against police officers charged over his death and the city of Minneapolis.

They claim the four officers violated Mr Floyd’s rights when they restrained him, and say the city allowed a culture of excessive force, racism and impunity to flourish in its police force.

The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Minnesota, was announced by Ben Crump and other lawyers representing Mr Floyd’s family members in July.

“This complaint shows what we have said all along, that Mr Floyd died because the weight of the entire Minneapolis Police Department was on his neck,” Mr Crump said in a statement

Read more

George Floyd's brother: 'Take the opportunity to change the world'

Police officer fired over George Floyd killing charged with tax crimes

Body-cam footage gives devastating account of George Floyd’s killing

George Floyd’s family sue police and city of Minneapolis