A full autopsy of George Floyd, who died after being handcuffed and restrained by Minneapolis police, has revealed that he had tested positive for COVID-19.

The 20-page report, which was released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office, came with the family’s permission – and after the coroner’s office released summary findings on Monday that Floyd had a heart attack while being restrained by officers, and classified his May 25 death as a homicide.

The report by Chief Medical Examiner Andrew Baker spelled out clinical details, including that Floyd had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 3 but appeared asymptomatic. The report also noted Floyd’s lungs appeared healthy but he had some narrowing of arteries in the heart.

The county’s earlier summary report listed fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use under “other significant conditions” but not under “cause of death”

The full report’s footnotes noted that signs of fentanyl toxicity can include “severe respiratory depression” and seizures.

The revelations come as US President Donald Trump fought back after his former Pentagon chief Jim Mattis issued a stinging condemnation of his erstwhile boss, accusing the president of trying to “divide” America.

Mr Trump tweeted that he was “the world’s most overrated General”.

Probably the only thing Barack Obama & I have in common is that we both had the honor of firing Jim Mattis, the world’s most overrated General,” he tweeted.

“I asked for his letter of resignation, & felt great about it. His nickname was “Chaos”, which I didn’t like, & changed to “Mad Dog.”

In a second tweet, he went on to say: “His primary strength was not military, but rather personal public relations.

“I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom ‘brought home the bacon’.

“I didn’t like his ‘leadership’ style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!”

Mr Trump’s tweets were triggered by a statement Mattis wrote that was posted online by The Atlantic.

“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try,” Mattis said.

“Instead, he tries to divide us,” continues the retired Marine general, who had previously argued it would be inappropriate for him to criticise a sitting president

“We must reject any thinking of our cities as a “battlespace” that our uniformed military is called upon to “dominate.”

General Mattis – nicknamed “Mad Dog” served as Defence Secretary from the beginning of the Trump administration until January 2019.

He was replaced by Mark Esper, who has also distanced himself from the President’s threats to use the full force of the military to quell street protests around the country, emphatically arguing against invoking the two-centuries-old Insurrection Act, which would allow Mr Trump to use active-duty troops in a law enforcement role.

The possibility of using the Insurrection Act, which has not been invoked since the 1992 rioting in Los Angeles, had been discussed in the White House but never explicitly proposed publicly by Mr Trump.

Source: https://247newsupdatess..com/2020/06/autopsy-shows-george-floyd-had-covid-19.html

All that matters now is that justice should serve its cause.