Malcolm Gladwell

May 25th, 2020. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Early evening. A 911 dispatcher makes a call.

May 25th, 2020. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Early evening. A 911 dispatcher makes a call.

The dispatcher is Jenna Scurry, seven years on the job. She's in a big room with multiple computer screens and televisions running live video feeds from around the city. The details from the call come over her screen. 38th and Chicago. Suspect at a grocery store.

The dispatcher is Jenna Scurry, seven years on the job. She's in a big room with multiple computer screens and televisions running live video feeds from around the city. The details from the call come over her screen. 38th and Chicago. Suspect at a grocery store.

She sends a squad car to the scene, looks up, and realizes the city has a fixed camera on that corner of 38th and Chicago, so she has a live video feed up on one of the screens. She sees the officers try to put the suspect in the back of one of the squad cars. She looks away. When she looks back, he's on the ground, handcuffed, face down. One officer kneeling on his neck.

She sends a squad car to the scene, looks up, and realizes the city has a fixed camera on that corner of 38th and Chicago, so she has a live video feed up on one of the screens. She sees the officers try to put the suspect in the back of one of the squad cars. She looks away. When she looks back, he's on the ground, handcuffed, face down. One officer kneeling on his neck.

The suspect is George Floyd. The officer on top of him is Derek Chauvin. She looks away again, takes another call. At the criminal trial the following year, arising from the events that day in 2020, Scurry was the first witness called by the prosecution. And she relived the events of that evening, step by step.

The suspect is George Floyd. The officer on top of him is Derek Chauvin. She looks away again, takes another call. At the criminal trial the following year, arising from the events that day in 2020, Scurry was the first witness called by the prosecution. And she relived the events of that evening, step by step.

My name is Malcolm Gladwell. Welcome to Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. I'm guessing you watched the bystander videos of what happened that night during the fevered COVID summer of 2020. I know I did. I knew the villain. I knew the victim. I thought that's all I needed to know. But then I ran across the George Floyd video again, not long ago, by chance.

My name is Malcolm Gladwell. Welcome to Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. I'm guessing you watched the bystander videos of what happened that night during the fevered COVID summer of 2020. I know I did. I knew the villain. I knew the victim. I thought that's all I needed to know. But then I ran across the George Floyd video again, not long ago, by chance.

One of those serendipitous internet moments. And watched it for the first time in years, far from the intense emotions of the first time I saw it. And I realized I didn't understand what was happening. What Chauvin was doing. What the other police officers on the scene were thinking. which made me wonder if somehow the first time around I had missed the lesson of the case.

One of those serendipitous internet moments. And watched it for the first time in years, far from the intense emotions of the first time I saw it. And I realized I didn't understand what was happening. What Chauvin was doing. What the other police officers on the scene were thinking. which made me wonder if somehow the first time around I had missed the lesson of the case.

So over the next two episodes, I'm going to do a close reading of what happened to George Floyd. An unfamiliar reading, starting with the perspective of the very first person to see things unfold in real time, Jenna Scurry.

So over the next two episodes, I'm going to do a close reading of what happened to George Floyd. An unfamiliar reading, starting with the perspective of the very first person to see things unfold in real time, Jenna Scurry.

Because before George Floyd stopped breathing, before the angry crowd gathered, before the scene turned into tragedy, she could see Derek Chauvin behaving so strangely that it led her, a 911 dispatcher who had seen a thousand crime scenes in her career, to stop and stare at the video feed in disbelief. As in, this can't be real. The screen must be frozen.

Because before George Floyd stopped breathing, before the angry crowd gathered, before the scene turned into tragedy, she could see Derek Chauvin behaving so strangely that it led her, a 911 dispatcher who had seen a thousand crime scenes in her career, to stop and stare at the video feed in disbelief. As in, this can't be real. The screen must be frozen.

In the beginning, there was nothing extraordinary about the situation unfolding on the corner of 38th and Chicago. A man passes a counterfeit $20 bill. The clerk calls 911. The suspect hasn't run. He's sitting in his car across the street. He isn't armed. He isn't hostile. He seems like he's high. Two officers approach him and tell him to get out of the car.

In the beginning, there was nothing extraordinary about the situation unfolding on the corner of 38th and Chicago. A man passes a counterfeit $20 bill. The clerk calls 911. The suspect hasn't run. He's sitting in his car across the street. He isn't armed. He isn't hostile. He seems like he's high. Two officers approach him and tell him to get out of the car.

He pleads and complains, more like a scared child than a grown man. He talks about his mom. He finally gets out. The officers handcuff him. They ask him his name. He says it's George Floyd. They lead him over to the squad car. But he doesn't want to get in the back seat. He says he's claustrophobic. He's having trouble breathing.

He pleads and complains, more like a scared child than a grown man. He talks about his mom. He finally gets out. The officers handcuff him. They ask him his name. He says it's George Floyd. They lead him over to the squad car. But he doesn't want to get in the back seat. He says he's claustrophobic. He's having trouble breathing.