George Floyd and Derek Chauvin were both employed by the same nightclub in Minneapolis, El Nuevo Rodeo, before their fatal encounter on May 25. A mutual co-worker, David Pinney, opened up to CBS News about friction in Derek and George’s relationship during an interview that aired on June 10. “They bumped heads,” David claimed. “It has a lot to do with Derek being extremely aggressive within the club with some of the patrons, which was an issue.”
Chauvin was hired by the nightclub owner to sit in his police car outside of the club when he was off-duty. Meanwhile, Floyd worked on the security team inside the club. During his CBS News interview, Pinney recalled one incident between the men, which involved Chauvin’s paycheck. He explained that the inside members of the security team were paid by the nightclub, and then they had to pay the people on outside detail. Pinney claimed that Chauvin felt one of his paychecks was too low, and that he blamed Floyd for it, since he handed him the check.
When asked if he thought Chauvin definitely knew Floyd when he arrested him, and eventually killed by kneeling on his neck, on May 25, Pinney replied, “I’d say he knew him. [There]’s no doubt in my mind. He knew exactly who George was.” Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. However, Floyd’s lawyer is now asking for the charge to be upped to first-degree murder “because we believe he knew who George Floyd was,” according to CBS News.
Meanwhile, the owner of El Nuevo Rodeo, Maya Santamaria, also told CBS News that she felt that Chauvin was “aggressive toward minority customers.” She was not aware of any specific issues between Chauvin and Floyd, though.
Floyd’s death has sparked a widespread discussion about racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. In addition to Chauvin, three other cops were also at the scene of Floyd’s murder. They were all charged with aiding and abetting second degree murder. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have broken out across the country, as citizens are demanding justice for Floyd and so many other innocent black men and women who have been wrongfully killed by police.