I agree that Derek Chauvin was negligent and brutal in his treatment of Floyd, but there is also little doubt that he had no intention to kill him. Therefore, manslaughter would seem to be what he was guilty of, certainly not murder.
Always appreciate your work, Eli! I am from Minnesota and have followed this case closely. Please take time to read the original autopsy report (not the one the jury saw, but the original one...written before the DA got to the medical examiner). Whether one likes Chauvin or not and regardless of any interpretation of facial expressions, Floyd died of a multi-drug overdose in the setting of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and multiple other comorbidities, compounded by the physical exertion of resisting arrest for a very long time. The officers did nothing wrong. They were merely expendable chess pieces in the long game of leftist politics which has left this once-beautiful state in ruin.
I go back to the fact that Minneapolis police were TAUGHT to use Chauvin's method of subduing a highly aggressive suspect: who was actively resisting arrest for a prolonged period of time, who had a long police record AND who WAS KNOWN for using the "I can't breath" tactic on other occasions as well in highly volatile situations just like the one that happened that day.
With a lot of bystanders how were the police to know that Floyd would not keep escalating the situation even further? Let us not forget that Floyd was ranting and violently resisting arrest for over 20 minutes.... the VERY FACT that he was ranting as loudly as he was MEANT he COULD in fact breath! You cannot physically yell if you don't have breath. It is a biological fact.
My gosh, let us also remember that every single thing they asked Floyd to do, he categorically REFUSED to do. How sanctimonious of ANYONE to think that Chauvin should have been clairvoyant enough to know that Floyd had died instead of being finally worn out. He clearly couldn't see Floyd's face. Honestly, I myself might have figured that he had finally worn himself out and had settled down. Again, we cannot forget that this form of subduing a person violently resisting arrest was the method taught by the MPD.
I have watched MANY police videos where suspects are resisting arrest: from refusing to put their hands on the wheel to refusing to step out of the car, etc, etc... only to have the suspects pull a gun on police and shoot at them... in some cases killing them. There is a REASON why they follow certain protocols and get VERY nervous when suspects don't.
We have GOT to cut the police some slack and get off of our sanctimonious high horses. OF COURSE, If Chauvin had allowed Floyd to stand up and Floyd got violent again, what is to say that he would not have hurt one of the bystanders? Then everyone would be blaming Chauvin for not properly subduing a violent known criminal and allowing a bystander to get hurt. The police just can't win!!!
Day after day, the police not only see people at their worst, but they also see the "worst of the worst". I am willing to bet that most people would fall apart after just one day in their shoes. Everyone should watch at least a day's worth of actual police videos to see what an unbelievably thankless and tough job they have. Cut them some slack, for crying out loud. Quite frankly, how can police NOT become jaded after all they see and have to go through day after day. I feel we should foot the bill for them to have weekly counseling so that they can have some emotional support for the job they do.
Here is another interesting note: We had a very young and kind police officer who went merely to serve an eviction notice because the female property owner was fed up with never getting paid. The (black) guy shot him point blank. THIS WAS THE SAME WEEK THAT FLOYD DIED. Not a peep from the press about blacks killing WHITE police officers. SUCH hypocrisy! It's the job police do... and they know they may be the target of a bullet every single time they go out on the beat... Even a routine traffic violation can turn into a shooting incident... and has MANY TIMES.
It seems both hypocritical and very judgmental to expect them to be absolutely perfect under all situations. At most, Chauvin and the WHOLE MPD should have gotten some retraining on the kneeling method. Perhaps the whole department could also get some much deserved counseling... but being thrown in jail for a judgement call that was very hard to make seems completely unfair.
I'd like to point out also that Chauvin was convicted on 8 seconds of video. Eight seconds. Just eight. Which one of us would like to be convicted on 8 seconds in the middle of a highly charged, volatile situation, distracted by onlookers and trying to get a violent, fighting, no-respect-for-the-police, large and very strong man FINALLY into the police car? My gosh, what a bunch of bleeding hearts and sacrosanct hypocrites his accusers are. The whole BLM movement was a travesty... Obama puts out a race hate fishing line for the gullible and they snapped it up... before long there won't be anything left of the America the BLMers thought would protect them... and they will have destroyed it with their own gullibility.
To analyze the case without acknowledging the jury nullification and intimidation in the charges and sentencing is naive at best. Facial expressions do not determine a person’s guilt. How about doing your own documentary to refute the “Fall of Minneapolis” allegations? It would be far more enlightening than such a defensive statement.
All things considered, it was not a murder. I think Chauvin was criminally negligent, but there was no intent to kill. He was overcharged for overtly political gain and to satisfy a lust for a murder conviction from a public inflamed by the BLM mafia.
Eli, thanks for discussing Derek Chauvin. I've wondered about his situation and whether his conviction was fair. I'd seen some of the footage but not all of it. I appreciate your description and your thoughts about him and his sentence.
I agree. We need YOUR documentary. While you research, take a page from Roland Fryer and do a ride-along. I know deputies that are paid 35k a year to become…road kill. it’s so common and ridiculous.
You get what you pay for and you get what you raise up/denigrate in your community. I’d love any investigation you do…but, for me, in the FOM, it was the exclusion of evidence (why? Didn’t watch the trial but judges aren’t what they were) and the pressure on the jury.
I’d also love a documentary on why high-profile or political defendants may need to have more freedom for change of venue, so that the rest of us can have faith in our justice system—far above so many or most in the world. If you don’t believe me, go get arrested in Italy. Maybe that discussion can then spur action in our mealy-mouthed legislature.
I agree that Derek Chauvin was negligent and brutal in his treatment of Floyd, but there is also little doubt that he had no intention to kill him. Therefore, manslaughter would seem to be what he was guilty of, certainly not murder.
Always appreciate your work, Eli! I am from Minnesota and have followed this case closely. Please take time to read the original autopsy report (not the one the jury saw, but the original one...written before the DA got to the medical examiner). Whether one likes Chauvin or not and regardless of any interpretation of facial expressions, Floyd died of a multi-drug overdose in the setting of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and multiple other comorbidities, compounded by the physical exertion of resisting arrest for a very long time. The officers did nothing wrong. They were merely expendable chess pieces in the long game of leftist politics which has left this once-beautiful state in ruin.
I go back to the fact that Minneapolis police were TAUGHT to use Chauvin's method of subduing a highly aggressive suspect: who was actively resisting arrest for a prolonged period of time, who had a long police record AND who WAS KNOWN for using the "I can't breath" tactic on other occasions as well in highly volatile situations just like the one that happened that day.
With a lot of bystanders how were the police to know that Floyd would not keep escalating the situation even further? Let us not forget that Floyd was ranting and violently resisting arrest for over 20 minutes.... the VERY FACT that he was ranting as loudly as he was MEANT he COULD in fact breath! You cannot physically yell if you don't have breath. It is a biological fact.
My gosh, let us also remember that every single thing they asked Floyd to do, he categorically REFUSED to do. How sanctimonious of ANYONE to think that Chauvin should have been clairvoyant enough to know that Floyd had died instead of being finally worn out. He clearly couldn't see Floyd's face. Honestly, I myself might have figured that he had finally worn himself out and had settled down. Again, we cannot forget that this form of subduing a person violently resisting arrest was the method taught by the MPD.
I have watched MANY police videos where suspects are resisting arrest: from refusing to put their hands on the wheel to refusing to step out of the car, etc, etc... only to have the suspects pull a gun on police and shoot at them... in some cases killing them. There is a REASON why they follow certain protocols and get VERY nervous when suspects don't.
We have GOT to cut the police some slack and get off of our sanctimonious high horses. OF COURSE, If Chauvin had allowed Floyd to stand up and Floyd got violent again, what is to say that he would not have hurt one of the bystanders? Then everyone would be blaming Chauvin for not properly subduing a violent known criminal and allowing a bystander to get hurt. The police just can't win!!!
Day after day, the police not only see people at their worst, but they also see the "worst of the worst". I am willing to bet that most people would fall apart after just one day in their shoes. Everyone should watch at least a day's worth of actual police videos to see what an unbelievably thankless and tough job they have. Cut them some slack, for crying out loud. Quite frankly, how can police NOT become jaded after all they see and have to go through day after day. I feel we should foot the bill for them to have weekly counseling so that they can have some emotional support for the job they do.
Here is another interesting note: We had a very young and kind police officer who went merely to serve an eviction notice because the female property owner was fed up with never getting paid. The (black) guy shot him point blank. THIS WAS THE SAME WEEK THAT FLOYD DIED. Not a peep from the press about blacks killing WHITE police officers. SUCH hypocrisy! It's the job police do... and they know they may be the target of a bullet every single time they go out on the beat... Even a routine traffic violation can turn into a shooting incident... and has MANY TIMES.
It seems both hypocritical and very judgmental to expect them to be absolutely perfect under all situations. At most, Chauvin and the WHOLE MPD should have gotten some retraining on the kneeling method. Perhaps the whole department could also get some much deserved counseling... but being thrown in jail for a judgement call that was very hard to make seems completely unfair.
I'd like to point out also that Chauvin was convicted on 8 seconds of video. Eight seconds. Just eight. Which one of us would like to be convicted on 8 seconds in the middle of a highly charged, volatile situation, distracted by onlookers and trying to get a violent, fighting, no-respect-for-the-police, large and very strong man FINALLY into the police car? My gosh, what a bunch of bleeding hearts and sacrosanct hypocrites his accusers are. The whole BLM movement was a travesty... Obama puts out a race hate fishing line for the gullible and they snapped it up... before long there won't be anything left of the America the BLMers thought would protect them... and they will have destroyed it with their own gullibility.
To analyze the case without acknowledging the jury nullification and intimidation in the charges and sentencing is naive at best. Facial expressions do not determine a person’s guilt. How about doing your own documentary to refute the “Fall of Minneapolis” allegations? It would be far more enlightening than such a defensive statement.
All things considered, it was not a murder. I think Chauvin was criminally negligent, but there was no intent to kill. He was overcharged for overtly political gain and to satisfy a lust for a murder conviction from a public inflamed by the BLM mafia.
Eli, thanks for discussing Derek Chauvin. I've wondered about his situation and whether his conviction was fair. I'd seen some of the footage but not all of it. I appreciate your description and your thoughts about him and his sentence.
“There is no dispute that Floyd had fatal amounts of drugs in his system and may have died on his own.”
Interesting statement Eli.
Thank you for your insight into this. It is clear you did a thorough investigation into it before reaching a conclusion .
Well argued. But it was a bit snarky to describe Owens as "amateurish".
I agree. We need YOUR documentary. While you research, take a page from Roland Fryer and do a ride-along. I know deputies that are paid 35k a year to become…road kill. it’s so common and ridiculous.
You get what you pay for and you get what you raise up/denigrate in your community. I’d love any investigation you do…but, for me, in the FOM, it was the exclusion of evidence (why? Didn’t watch the trial but judges aren’t what they were) and the pressure on the jury.
I’d also love a documentary on why high-profile or political defendants may need to have more freedom for change of venue, so that the rest of us can have faith in our justice system—far above so many or most in the world. If you don’t believe me, go get arrested in Italy. Maybe that discussion can then spur action in our mealy-mouthed legislature.
Thank you for your thoughts. They are your thoughts and I respect them.
Thoughtful.