The Political Insider

Shortly after the death of George Floyd, it was revealed that he had previously worked with now-former Officer Derek Chauvin, who infamously kneeled on his neck before he died. Both Floyd and Chauvin were employed at a nightclub in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now, a former co-worker of the two men at the club is speaking out to reveal that they did not always get along.

David Pinney told CBS News that Chauvin and Floyd “bumped heads,” with their disagreements having “a lot to do with Derek being extremely aggressive within the club with some of the patrons, which was an issue.” Lawyers representing the Floyd family have been pushing for Chauvin to be charged with first degree murder “because we believe he knew who George Floyd was.”

“Is there any doubt in your mind that Derek Chauvin knew George Floyd?” CBS News hosts asked Pinney, to which he replied, “No. He knew him.” When asked to clarify how well he thinks Chauvin knew him, Pinney responded, “I would say pretty well.”

Maya Santamaria, who was the owner of the nightclub where both men worked, explained that she had been paying Chauvin to sit outside the El Nuevo Rodeo in his squad car when he was off-duty, a working contract that lasted for 17 years. Meanwhile, Floyd worked security outside the nightclub last year, and she specifically recalled them both working on Tuesday nights at the same time.

“Do you think Derek had a problem with black people?” CBS News asked. “I think he was afraid and intimidated,” Santamaria responded. “By black folks?” CBS News clarified, to which Santamaria said, “Yeah.” Benjamin Crump has cited this nightclub connection as evidence that Chauvin held Floyd down with “an intentional will to do bodily harm.”

“They had an overlap,” the lawyer said. “And so that is going to be an interesting aspect to this case and hopefully upgrading these charges to first-degree murder because we believe he knew who George Floyd was.”

This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on June 10, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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