Bystander Videos of George Floyd and Others Are Policing the Police

The Minneapolis police statement was short and sanitized. An allegation of forgery. A suspect who “appeared to be under the influence,” who “physically resisted officers” and who appeared to be “suffering medical distress.”

The video that emerged hours later told a drastically different story. It showed a white police officer pressing his knee into the neck of a black suspect until he appeared limp and unconscious. Throughout the encounter, the man, George Floyd, could be heard saying “I can’t breathe” again and again. He later died at a hospital.

The...