‘I miss my brother’ – George Floyd’s younger brother tells court

George Floyd’s younger sibling has testified “I miss my brother” as prosecutors prepare to rest their case against the ex-officer accused of murdering him.

After the state of Minnesota spent more than two weeks making the case against Derek Chauvin, his defence team will begin to present its case on Tuesday.

Mr Chauvin is on trial after he knelt on Mr Floyd’s neck during his arrest last May.

He has denied the charges.

Tensions are high in Minnesota after the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old black man by a white police officer in a suburb only 10 miles (16 km) away from the courtroom where Mr Chauvin’s trial is taking place.

Mr Chauvin’s trial has been closely watched. Footage of Mr Chauvin, a white man, kneeling on the neck of Mr Floyd, a black man, sparked global protests against racism and policing in the US.

What did Floyd’s brother say?

Philonise Floyd took to the stand as a “spark of life” witness, a circumstance by which the prosecution in a Minnesota trial can humanise the victim for the jury.

Mr Floyd, 39, remembered his brother as “a big mama’s boy” and “a leader to us in the household” as the court was shown old photos from their childhood.

He mused about their competitiveness as siblings: “Me and George played video games all the time. I finally beat him in a game and I was just so happy thinking about that.”

Through tears, the younger Floyd recounted how his brother had cried at their mother’s funeral and “didn’t want to leave the casket” because “he loved her so dearly”.

“I miss both of them,” he said.

 

Source: BBC