Holding him long enough to handcuff him, yes, but not so long as to kill him. There is no excuse—bad training, anger, revenge, whatever.
He didn’t kill Floyd. In the original ME’s report, the one Baker issued before the politicians got ahold of him, there was zero trauma or injury to Floyd’s neck, trachea or any other organ that would effect his breathing. Floyd requested to be removed from the Patrol car and placed on the ground, Chauvin didn’t put him there. He had 90% blockage of the Coronary Artery along with an enlarged heart and a lethal dose of Fentanyl and Methamphetamine in his system. Once again, this technique is used thousands of times a year, by PDs all over the country and suspects don’t die. Floyd’s drug use combined with his severe cardiac disease killed Floyd.