04 July 2021
Pope Francis on Sunday went to a hospital in Rome to undergo scheduled surgery for symptomatic diverticular stenosis of the colon, the Vatican announced.
Details: The Pope left the Casa Santa Marta, his official residence, in the afternoon local time. He greeted the public earlier in the day in St. Peter’s Square to recite the Angelus.
- A week prior, Francis had asked the public in that same location to "pray for the pope, pray in a special way," AP reports.
- At the time, he "might have been hinting at the planned surgery," AP writes.
What to watch: The Vatican said it will release a statement once the surgery is complete.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.