Minneapolis Police Chief says he can't release George Floyd bodycam footage and that it has to be shared by the FBI - after one of the indicted cops' lawyers says it will prove 'there was a struggle'

The Minneapolis Police Chief said on Wednesday he cannot share bodycam footage of George Floyd's death because it was now being investigated by the FBI and that they'd have to make the footage public, after one of the officers' lawyers said it will 'prove' there was a struggle. 

Chief Medaria Arradondo stood for nearly an hour on Wednesday to take questions on Floyd's May 25 killing, the fiery riots it inspired in the city in the days afterwards, and the now global movement against police brutality that it sparked. 

He vowed to reform the department but said it would stay in tact and that there were officers within the force who were committed to change. 

Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo on Wednesday at a press conference 

He says the problem lies with the police union which makes it difficult for him to fire cops who are guilty of misconduct. 

Asked whether the department would share the bodycam footage, he said: 'We do not have the purview of being able to do that. 

It would have to be a decision by those two agencies,' referring to the FBI and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) which is also investigating Floyd's killing. 

The FBI is notoriously tight-lipped when it comes to its investigations and sharing evidence is rare

It is likely the bodycam footage may not surface until the cops' trial and even then, it remains unclear if media and public will have access to it.

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The four cops on top of Floyd on May 25 while arresting him for allegedly using a fake $20 in a store in Minneapolis 

His comments come amid growing calls for the department to be entirely disbanded and built from the ground up again, or replaced by social workers and community leaders.   

'We're going to have to have community support. Our PD is going to be here and we have to do better, we have to be committed. 

'This is going to take time. It's going to be some hard work,' Chief Arradondo said. 

The chief also announced that he was pulling out of all negotiations with the police union. 

He said the contract needs to be restructured to provide more transparency and flexibility for true reform. 

The review would look at matters such as critical incident protocols, use of force, and disciplinary protocols, including grievances and arbitration. 

'This work must be transformational, but I must do it right,' Arradondo said of changes to the department.

L-R: Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, J.A. Kueng and Thomas Lane who are all now in custody 

He also promised new research and strategies to spot and intervene with problem officers.

'We will have a police department that our communities view as legitimate, trusting and working with their best interests at heart,' he said, adding that the department has to address issues of racism head-on.

All four cops who were involved in Floyd's death have now been charged. 

Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, has been charged with second degree murder. 

Tou Thao, J.A. Kueng and Thomas Lane have all been charged with aiding and abetting murder. 

In a tense stand-off with Chris Cuomo on Cuomo Prime Time Monday night, Lane's attorney Earl Gray said Floyd shouldn't have resisted arrest and should have followed the orders of the four cops, as he insisted bodycam footage proves his client's innocence.  

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In a tense stand-off with Chris Cuomo on Cuomo Prime Time Monday night, Lane's attorney Earl Gray said Floyd shouldn't have resisted arrest and should have followed the orders of the four cops, as he insisted bodycam footage proves his client's innocence

'It wasn't a violent resistance but it wasn't a kind of non-resistance that an individual should do when police officers are arresting him,' Gray said.

'He should get out of his vehicle and follow the orders of the police officers. He didn't do that.'

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Floyd was killed on May 25

Gray also said Lane could not see what Officer Derek Chauvin was doing to Floyd's neck from where he was pinning the black man to the floor - despite footage appearing to show the rookie cop looking in the direction of these events.

He then leveled some blame on the bystanders who had filmed Floyd's alleged murder and warned the cops they were killing the black man, saying they should have stepped in if they thought Floyd was dying. 

Lane, 37, was arrested and charged Wednesday with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, following Floyd's slaying when fellow officer Chauvin knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. 

Lane, who was four days into the job as a police officer when he helped pin Floyd down onto the ground, is facing faces 40 years in jail if convicted. 

The rookie cop's family have now issued an appeal to the public to help pay for the cop's legal fees after his bail was set at $1 million - while protesters across America continue to demand justice for Floyd and call for an end to systemic racism and police brutality against African-Americans.