MMA fighter who witnessed murder of George Floyd faces domestic assault charges

An MMA fighter who witnessed the murder of George Floyd and was a key prosecution witness during the trial of former police officer Derek…

By: Karim Zidan | 9 months ago
MMA fighter who witnessed murder of George Floyd faces domestic assault charges
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

An MMA fighter who witnessed the murder of George Floyd and was a key prosecution witness during the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin has been charged with domestic assault.

Donald Wynn Williams was arrested following an altercation on Saturday near the Minnesota Street Fairgrounds. The 34-year-old allegedly choked his former girlfriend and hit her in the face outside the State Fair before threatening to kill the police officers who arrested him, according to the criminal complaint.

Following his arrest, Williams denied attacking the woman and told police that he has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from testifying during the trial of Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted last year of murdering Floyd.

The MMA fighter was among the bystanders who begged Chauvin to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck, and later told the 911 dispatcher that the officer “just pretty much killed this guy that wasn’t resisting arrest.”

Williams later testified that Chauvin had used a “blood choke” on Floyd, restricting his circulation and eventually killing him. Chauvin was convicted in April 2021.

The fighter is now charged with felony domestic assault by strangulation and misdemeanor domestic assault. He was booked into jail Monday and released the next day, with a court hearing scheduled for Sept. 26.

According to the charges, the victim suffered a scratch and small bruise to her neck and stated that she “could not breathe and was in fear for her life while Williams was strangling her.”

Share this story

About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

More from the author

Recent Stories