Renowned forensic pathologist and clinical professor at the UC Davis Medical Center Dr. Bennet Omalu commented Saturday on a preliminary autopsy report on the death of George Floyd. The report, which raised doubts about the cause of Floyd’s death, could complicate the prosecution of a Minneapolis police officer who has been charged in the case.
“I am extremely disappointed with and pissed by the preliminary cause of death opinion of the Hennepin County Medical Examiner on the George Floyd case,” Omalu said on Twitter. “Professional buffoonery at its best.”
Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, died Monday in Minneapolis after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground with his knee for nearly nine minutes. Floyd, who was handcuffed, cried out that he could not breath. The officer kept him pinned for close to three minutes after he became unresponsive. Floyd’s death, which was captured on video, has prompted nationwide outrage and protests.
The officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, was charged Friday with third degree murder and manslaughter. On the same day, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner, who conducted Floyd’s autopsy, released a report saying that underlying health conditions likely contributed to his death.
“The autopsy revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation,” the report stated. “Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.”
Omalu, a medical examiner who has testified as an expert witness hundreds of times in state and federal courts, took the report to pieces in a post published Saturday on his personal blog. “A human being pressed his knee on the neck of another human being while he laid prone on an unyielding surface of the road for close to 10 minutes, during which that human being complained that he could not breathe before he died,” Omalu said.
According to Omalu, three to five minutes of neck compression can be enough to asphyxiate the human brain and cause death. “Even if that individual had coronary artery disease, the mechanism of death would still be a Type 2 Myocardial Infarction instigated by the asphyxial brain injury caused by the compression of the neck,” Omalu said. While other health conditions might have been contributing factors, “the manner of death would be a homicide,” he said.
Omalu added that this type of death would not always manifest in a visible neck injury. “I do not understand the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s findings,” he said. “Human beings frequently die from asphyxial injury of the brain without any physical injury to the neck following compression of the neck.”
The legal team representing Floyd’s family is seeking an independent autopsy, which they said will be conducted in the Minneapolis area within the next several days and will be made public.
“We are tragically disappointed in the preliminary autopsy findings released today by the medical examiner,” said Benjamin Crump, one of the lawyers representing Floyd’s family. “We hope that this does not reflect efforts to create a false narrative for the reason George Floyd died.”
Omalu, who is best known for discovering the prevalence of a degenerative brain disease in former NFL players — he was portrayed by Will Smith in the 2015 film “Concussion” — has experience with similar high-profile cases. In 2018, Omalu was hired by the family of Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African-American man fatally shot by police in Sacramento, to conduct a private autopsy.
Omalu’s findings indicated Clark was shot first in the back, and eight times in total, differing from the version of events the Sacramento County coroner released.
After a yearlong investigation, the Sacramento district attorney declined to press charges against the officers who shot and killed Clark, saying they were legally justified in their use of deadly force. The decision sparked massive protests. Omalu stood by his findings.
— Reach Caleb Hampton at champton@davisenterprise.net. Follow him on Twitter at @calebmhampton.