Story at a glance
- Maya Santamaria told KSTP George Floyd and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin had overlapping shifts at the El Nuevo Rodeo club.
- She said it’s not clear if the two ever spoke to each other.
- Video showing Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes before his death has prompted widespread protests.
A former Minneapolis club owner claims George Floyd and Derek Chauvin, the former officer involved in Floyd’s death, both worked as security at her club at the same time, according to KSTP.
Maya Santamaria, who formerly owned El Nuevo Rodeo club in Minneapolis, told the outlet both men worked as security for her club up to the end of last year and had overlapping shifts, but it’s not clear if the two ever spoke to each other because there were often a couple dozen security guards and off-duty officers working the club.
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“Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open,” Santamaria told KSTP. “They were working together at the same time, it’s just that Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside.”
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“[Chauvin] sometimes had a real short fuse and he seemed afraid. When there was an altercation he always resorted to pulling out his mace and pepper spray everybody right away even though I felt it was unwarranted,” Santamaria told the outlet.
She said she did not immediately recognize Floyd in the video showing him pinned to the ground by the officer, but later identified him as one of her former security guards after seeing photos of Floyd close up.
“My friend sent me (the video) and said this is [Chauvin] who used to work for you and I said, ‘It’s not him.’ And then they did the close-up and that’s when I said, ‘Oh my God, that’s him,’” Santamaria said.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died earlier this week while in police custody. Video shot by a bystander showed Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes while he pleaded with the officer he couldn’t breath. That video circulated online, prompting widespread outrage and days of violent protests in Minneapolis and other cities.
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