The man who claimed George Floyd and former police officer Derek Chauvin “bumped heads” at a nightclub now says he mixed up Floyd with someone else.
David Pinney, who claimed he worked “closely” with Floyd and Derek Chauvin — and previously told CBS News the two men “bumped heads” — changed his story Wednesday.
Pinney told CBS News he worked at the same nightclub in south Minneapolis with Floyd for 5 months in late 2015 and early 2016.
He described tension between the two men — and he said he often stepped in to break up fights between them.
He initially described a close bond with Floyd. “It’s a difference when you work side by side with somebody. Like, I see him like a brother….”
“I knew George on a work basis,” he said. “We were pretty close. When it came to our security positions, he was in charge and I worked directly below him as a security adviser.”
He said Chauvin was “extremely aggressive within the club.”
“…..he always showed aggression to, you know, George. So George, to keep it professional, George had me intervene and – interface with him instead of himself, just to be – just to get away from the conflict and keep it professional.”
Pinney told CBS News he and Floyd were “very close” and he viewed him as a brother.
On Wednesday, Pinney told CBS News in an email he had confused Floyd with someone else: “There has been a mix up between George and another fellow co-worker,” he wrote.
“I apologize for not doing my due diligence and placing you in a very uncomfortable situation,” Pinney told CBS4’s Jeff Pegues.
A lawyer representing the Floyd family called for Chauvin to be charged with first-degree murder because he believes Chauvin knew who Floyd was and what happened on May 25 was personal.
