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“The video of George Floyd gasping for breath was essentially Exhibit A as the former Minneapolis police officer [Derek Chauvin] who pressed his knee on the Black man’s neck went on trial Monday on charges of murder and manslaughter.” AP News
The right is divided about whether Chauvin is likely to be convicted.
Those skeptical about a conviction note, “The prosecution first has to show beyond a reasonable doubt that Floyd's death was caused by Chauvin's actions. But the autopsy report shows that Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system and had a serious heart problem, and that Chauvin's neck hold did not in fact cause damage to Floyd's trachea. That means that while Chauvin's neck restraint may have contributed to Floyd's death by ratcheting up his blood pressure, for example, it's uncertain that it caused Floyd's death more than, say, the excited delirium from which Floyd may have already been suffering…
“Second-degree manslaughter requires that the prosecution prove that Chauvin acted with ‘gross negligence.’ But such gross negligence would have to show that Chauvin should have known that his behavior might cause Floyd's death — an unlikely expectation, since the Minneapolis Police Department actively taught neck holds of the type Chauvin used, and which Chauvin applied only after Floyd resisted arrest and refused to be confined to the back seat of a police car…
“The Chauvin case, then, is a legally complex one. But such complexities have been abandoned in favor of narrative. Should Chauvin be acquitted, we are likely to hear that America has proved its racism once again. The only thing that has already been proved, however, is that the ‘America as white supremacist’ lie will remain the media's dominant narrative, no matter the data.”
Ben Shapiro, Creators Syndicate
“The [medical examiner’s] report showed that Floyd was in shockingly poor health, with a heart that was susceptible to failure under any amount of stress, let alone a run-in with police. It further showed that he had both methamphetamine and fentanyl in his blood…
“And despite the hysteria made over Chauvin kneeling on Floyd's neck, the examiner found no injuries to his neck or throat. Floyd said [before] he was on the ground that he couldn't breathe. Moreover, he wasn't suffocated. His heart simply gave out. Floyd's advocates point to a so-called ‘independent’ medical report that disputes the original one, but that's absurd. There is no ‘independent’ medical report. There is only the state's report and the report that Floyd's family paid for.”
Eddie Scarry, Washington Examiner
Others argue that “Casually kneeling on a handcuffed, prone suspect’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds does not meet the definition of proportional police use of force…. [But] The prosecutorial burden of proof in a murder case is an impossibly high threshold when saddled with the autopsy report’s listed contributory factors in Floyd’s death… Chauvin’s conduct was manslaughter; culpable negligence. For those viewing as injustice anything less than a murder conviction, forewarned is forearmed.”
James A. Gagliano, New York Post
Finally, those in favor of conviction argue that “The officer had multiple opportunities to deescalate the situation. At any point in time, he could have lifted his knee and turned Floyd on his side to allow for his lungs to expand. Yet, Chauvin continued to compress Floyd’s neck and constrict his airway even when the suspect lay unconscious and motionless on the ground…
“Watching the recording was heart-wrenching and grotesque. It was so atrocious that I venture to say it would be impossible for any compassionate person not to be incensed and angry at Chauvin’s actions… That is precisely why prosecutors played the damning recording during opening statements. It is also the reason that Chauvin’s chance at acquittal is remote. It is exceedingly difficult to defend the indefensible –especially when you see it with your own eyes. The recording is the star witness. All other evidence and testimony pale in comparison.”
Gregg Jarrett, Fox News
The left argues that Chauvin should be convicted based on the evidence.
The left argues that Chauvin should be convicted based on the evidence.
“The medical examiner found that Floyd’s death was attributable to the pressure applied to his neck and torso, in combination, which restricted his oxygenated blood flow, and resulted in cardiac arrest. Experts say that just a few pounds of pressure on the veins of the neck can significantly inhibit blood flow. And just a few pounds of pressure on the torso at the same time makes it even more difficult to draw oxygen into the lungs…
“The defense surely intends to call its own experts to refute the medical examiner’s finding. They will likely pin it all on Floyd’s drug use and pre-existing medical conditions in an effort to cast doubt upon the proof. The law, however, is that the knee on the neck need not be the sole cause of death, if it is a significantly contributing cause.”
James D. Zirin, The Hill
“Something is clearly wrong when an arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill ends up with a 46-year-old Black man gasping for air, pleading for help — and dying. Floyd’s death triggered nationwide protests and questioning about race, policing and social justice. A jury in Minnesota now faces one specific question: whether to hold Derek Chauvin, the officer who pinned Floyd under his knee for more than nine minutes — nine minutes and 29 seconds, to be exact — criminally responsible…
“Mr. Chauvin’s lawyer argued there is more to the case than the video, contending that Floyd’s death was caused by his underlying heart disease and drug use; he even blamed the crowd for posing a threat and diverting officers’ attention from Floyd. ‘You will learn,’ said Eric J. Nelson, ‘that Derek Chauvin was doing exactly what he had been trained to do during the course of his 19-year career.’ We hope no jury can accept that a police officer would be trained to be so willing to cause harm and so indifferent to human suffering.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
“Chauvin has one hand in his pocket, in a posture of what looks like nonchalance, as he kneels on Floyd’s neck for 4 minutes and 45 seconds while Floyd tells him 27 times that he can’t breathe, calls out for his mother and begs for air, his repeated use of ‘please’ a horrifying note of politeness in a scene of awful violence. Then Floyd falls silent. But for an additional 4 minutes and 44 seconds, Chauvin keeps his knee on Floyd’s neck — even after other officers tell him they can no longer detect Floyd’s pulse, even after an ambulance crew arrives…
“How could anyone treat a fellow human being with such little regard for his life? After he stopped moving — after he stopped breathing — Floyd obviously posed no threat to anyone, let alone to the heavily armed police officers who surrounded his inert body. But Chauvin keeps kneeling on his neck anyway. Why? To keep an obviously inert man immobile? Or to make a point to the bystanders, Black and White, who witnessed the whole thing? To me, it looks like a brutal demonstration of who has power and who does not.”
Eugene Robinson, Washington Post
“It’s not that Black people can’t let go of race, as we’re so often accused by those conditioned to avoid the subject. It’s that America can’t let go of white supremacy and all of its manifestations and benefits — like the ability to storm the Capitol and still be allowed to go on a Mexican vacation afterward or be given a Burger King meal soon after murdering nine Black people praying in church…
“We watched the abolitionist movement of the 1820s be met with the Fugitive Slave Act; Tulsa’s famed Black Wall Street burned down by racists in 1921; the 2020 election greeted with the Jan. 6 insurrection. It’s why despite the video showing Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, many of us are worried that won’t be enough. Just as all of the other videos starting with Rodney King on, were not enough.”
LZ Granderson, Los Angeles Times
50 times architects really outdid themselves.
Bored Panda
