Hello, doctor here: first up, that officer 100% murdered Floyd. Straight up. Just want to interpret the ME finding a, because they actually support what happened in holding Floyd down in a position KNOWN to cause hypoventilation and death.

There wasn’t damage to the trachea. There doesn’t have to be. The position of Floyd’s head/neck, as well as the pressure of a knee on his back, impaired his ability to expand his chest. He can’t take a breath deep enough to trade carbon dioxide for oxygen.

His heart is racing, and he’s generating a lot of carbon dioxide from the madness unfolding around him. As the carbon dioxide rises in his blood, he becomes less responsive, because too much carbon dioxide makes you sleepy.