While the city of Minneapolis is still experiencing a state of unrest over the aftermath of those protesting the killing of George Floyd, a man has recounted how the cop responsible almost ended his life years ago.
Identified as Ira Latrell Toles, the 33-year-old black American male said the officer (whose name is Derek Chauvin) stormed his house on May 4, 2008, and assaulted him in his bathroom before shooting him in the stomach.
After viewing the video footage of George Floyd’s demise on Tuesday evening, Toles sent a text to his sister saying that Chauvin might have been the officer who shot him.
Toles’ sister also watched the clip and confirmed that it was indeed Chauvin who had been responsible for shooting her brother years ago.
Toles still has stomach pain to this day and says that Floyd would have been alive today if Officer had been punished for shooting him in 2008.
“If he was reprimanded when he shot me, George Floyd would still be alive”, says Toles.
Narrating his experience with Chauvin, Toles said it happened when the mother of his child called the cops and several officers arrived at his home unannounced.
When Toles saw that Chauvin had breached his front door, he ran into the bathroom. The latter followed and started to kick the door.
Toles said he had to defend himself by hitting Chauvin and he got a bullet in the stomach for trying to wrestle the cop’s gun out of his grasp.
He ended up getting treatment at the Hennepin County Medical Center and was transported to court where he was charged with two counts of felonious obstruction of legal process or arrest and a misdemeanor for domestic assault.
“To turn a misdemeanor disorderly situation into a felony situation that could have resulted in me dying? He tried to kill me in that bathroom. I knew he would do something again. I wish we had smartphones back then”, added Toles.
