As George Floyd Died, Officer Wondered About “Excited Delirium”

In the final moments of George Floyd’s life, as he laid face down and Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on his neck, another officer asked Chauvin if they should roll Floyd onto his side. “I am worried about excited delirium or whatever,” the officer told Chauvin, according to authorities. Chauvin refused to turn over Floyd, who was pronounced dead shortly after.

The officer, Thomas Lane, was talking about a controversial diagnosis often cited when people die in police custody. People with excited delirium are said to be aggressive and incoherent, and to have “superhuman strength,” often after taking stimulant drugs such as cocaine or methamphetamine. Police groups and some experts say it’s a real condition, requiring immediate action and medical treatment.

But critics, including some medical experts, have attacked the condition as junk science and say it’s often used as a convenient excuse to justify excessive police