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Pressured By Attorney, Witness In George Floyd Killing Tearfully Defends Yelling At Cop: 'You Can't Paint Me Out To Be Angry'

The court heard heart-wrenching testimony on the second day of the George Floyd trial.

Day two of Derek Chauvin's murder trial left those watching awestruck by the testimony of multiple witnesses who were there when the Minneapolis officer choked George Floyd to death. 

Chauvin is facing charges of second and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for kneeling on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, setting off global protests in 2020. 

Donald Williams, one of the first witnesses called, was peppered with questions from Chauvin's lawyer, Eric Nelson, about his interaction with the officer as he knelt on Floyd's neck. 

Nelson went through Williams' entire recorded interaction with Chauvin and the other officers holding Floyd down, attempting to paint the witness as violent, angry and threatening toward Chauvin. 

“Do you recall saying I dare you to touch me like that, I swear I’ll slap the f**k out of both of you?” Nelson asked.

“Yeah I did. I meant it...you can’t paint me out to be angry,” Williams responded.

Williams later said he decided to call the police on Chauvin and the other officers after Floyd's body was taken away from the ambulance. 

Nelson and Williams went back and forth for minutes over his remarks toward Chauvin.

"They pretty much just killed this guy who wasn't resisting arrest. The man was already in handcuffs....The dude was not responsive when the ambulance came and got him," Williams said in a 911 call played for the jury. 

He cried heavily as the call played, and recalled how painful it was to see the officers take Floyd's life. 

Williams is a mixed martial arts fighter and has experience with chokeholds, explaining that he instantly knew Floyd was in trouble by the way Chauvin was kneeling on his neck.

"The officer on top was shimmying to actually get the final choke in while he was on top, the kill choke. [Chauvin] looked at me right here. The only time he looked up was when I said it was a blood choke. We looked at each other dead in the eye, and when I said it he acknowledged it," he said, adding that he is haunted after watching Floyd "fade away."

WARNING: This video contains content that could be triggering for some. 

The jury also heard testimony from many other people, including the young woman who filmed the video of the incident that was seen by millions. 

Darnella Frazier, just 17 years old, told the jury that like Williams, she is haunted by what she saw on May 25, 2020. 

"It seemed like he knew it was over for him…He was terrified, he was suffering," she told the court through tears.

"There have been nights I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life. But it’s like not what I should have done, it’s what he should have done," she said. 

"When I look at George Floyd, I look at my dad, I look at brothers, I look at my cousins, my uncles because they are all black...I have black friends & I look at that & I look at that how that could have been one of them," she added. 

According to USA Today, Nelson and an army of lawyers are working on the case with support from the Minneapolis Police and Peace Officers Association, Minnesota's largest federation of officers and unions.

The organization is planning to spend more than $1 million to defend Chauvin, who was fired by the Minneapolis Police Department after the killing. 

Some of the witnesses in the trial were so young that they could not be allowed on camera.

The witnesses will continue their testimony on Wednesday in front of a 12-person jury made up of seven women and five men, according to The New York Times. Four of the jurors are Black, six are white and two identify as multiracial. 

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