MINNEAPOLIS — In his 90-minute interview with the BCA, former Minneapolis Police Officer Thomas Lane is asked by the investigator several times to explain his thought process - first in pulling his gun, then in attempting to put George Floyd into the police car.
"I guess I'm just trying to understand, if he's compliant at the corner there and you've got two people that you're identifying and also Kueng has clearly got a guy handcuffs sitting, what was the purpose for then needing to put him in the squad car? Couldn't your kind of initial investigation be done right there?" the investigator asked.
"Uh, it could, but he was just, kind of acting erratically," Lane said.
Lane pointed his gun at Floyd shortly after tapping on the window of his car.
"So how come you drew your gun then?" the investigator asked.
"Because I asked him to see his other hand and he kept his hand like this. He had his one hand up and then he kept his hand down here and I said, 'Let me see your other hand, let me see your hand.' And he didn't. I don't know if he's got a gun right there and he's just waiting to go like this, or what he's doing," Lane said.
In a new court filing, Lane's attorney Earl Gray says Floyd swallowed a lethal amount of fentanyl when Lane asked to see Floyd's hands. Gray argues his client did nothing wrong and asks the judge to dismiss the charges.
When holding Floyd on the ground, Lane told the BCA investigator he twice asked if they should roll him over. But fellow officer Derek Chauvin said no.
"It seems like your gut reaction was, 'Something's not right here and we need to rethink how we are restraining Mr. Floyd.' Is that accurate? That's what it seems like you're saying," the investigator said.
"Yeah. I would say I felt like it maybe could have been handled differently or we should be reassessing what we're doing," Lane said.
The motion to dismiss will be argued at a Sept. 11 court hearing.