MINNEAPOLIS — A key prosecution witness in the Derek Chauvin murder trial choked his former girlfriend outside the State Fair and then threatened to kill the police officers who arrested him, according to charges.
Donald Wynn Williams, 34, of Minneapolis, explained to police Saturday that he was angry about being arrested and copes with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from testifying during the trial of Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted last year of murdering George Floyd, according to the criminal complaint.
Williams was a witness at 38th Street and Chicago Avenue in south Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, and was among the most vocal of them in urging Chauvin to get off Floyd's neck and officer Tou Thao to intervene.
Proficient in wrestling and mixed martial arts, Williams said Chauvin placed a "blood choke" on Floyd, restricting his circulation.
"I called the police on the police," Williams testified in April 2021. Asked why, he said: "Because I believe I witnessed a murder."
Williams is charged in Ramsey County District Court with felony domestic assault and misdemeanor domestic assault. He was booked into jail Monday and released the next day, with a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 26. Court records do not list an attorney for him, and as of Thursday noon there was no response to messages left for him seeking comment.
According to the charges filed Monday:
Williams' ex-girlfriend told police that she and her three children were selling water at two locations a few blocks east of the State Fair. When Williams texted her and told her to buy ice, she declined and said she didn't want to leave the children alone.
The woman returned to her vehicle, where she found Williams in his vehicle. He yelled at her about buying ice, walked up to her vehicle, grabbed her by the neck with one hand and choked her. He used his other hand to give her a backhanded slap to her face.
The attack stopped when someone nearby yelled "Hey!" at Williams, the complaint read.
The woman suffered a scratch and small bruise to her neck, and said her throat was somewhat sore when she swallowed. She added that "she could not breathe and was in fear for her life while Williams was strangling her," the charges read.
Police located Williams soon afterward with his 9-year-old daughter. He fought with officers as they tried to arrest him. One officer drew his Taser and pointed it at Williams, who then complied and was handcuffed.
However, Williams resumed his defiance and "continued to use his body weight to resist officers as they escorted him to the squad car," the complaint continued.
Once in the squad car, Williams became verbally hostile. He kicked the door and said "that if he could take the cuffs off, he would [hurt] the officers and kill them," the charges read. He singled out one officer with a death threat and said he would come after his family.
Under police questioning, Williams said he fought with the officers because he didn't want his daughter left alone and was mad about being arrested.
He said that he suffers from PTSD in connection with watching Floyd die under Chauvin's knee and his own testimony against the officer. He pointed out that he expects to be a witness again when fired officers Thao and J. Alexander Kueng go on trial Oct. 24 in Hennepin County District Court.
Court records show that Williams has been accused of defying orders in other encounters with police in recent years. After being stopped in February 2020 in New Brighton for failing to signal a turn, Williams refused to get back in his vehicle and was arrested. That case has yet to be resolved.
He also has a pending misdemeanor case in Hennepin County, filed in June, for allegedly interfering with a police officer.
In October 2021, Williams was cited for punching a pizza delivery person in the face in Roseville. A judge two weeks ago put him on a year's probation for disorderly conduct under what is called a "continuance for dismissal," meaning that the case will be dismissed if Williams commits no similar offenses while on probation.
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