by Scott McClallen
Less than a year after the death of George Floyd in police custody, a jury found former Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on charges of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
Anger from the tragic death in police custody on May 25, 2020, was fueled by a bystander filming part of the arrest, showing Floyd pinned under Chauvin’s knee for 9 minutes and 45 seconds, while he pleaded “I can’t breathe.” Floyd was declared dead later that day.
The video caused protests worldwide and pushed discussion of police accountability and proper levels of force for minor crimes, as Floyd was arrested for allegedly attempting to spend a fake $20 bill.
After Floyd’s death, rioters stormed the Twin Cities, burning to the ground the businesses of first-generation immigrants, many who lacked insurance, as well as the Third Police Precinct, causing more than $500 million of damage to nearly 1,500 Twin Cities businesses — the second most expensive riots in the United States after the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest following the police beating of Rodney King.
But the cost to taxpayers kept climbing as the Minnesota National Guard response to initial riots cost nearly $13 million, who have been deployed more than three times since then.
Floyd’s family conducted an independent autopsy finding he died from mechanical asphyxiation, while the Hennepin County medical examiner cited Floyd’s death as “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression.”
Chauvin’s attorney argued Floyd’s underlying medical conditions of hypertensive heart disease and fentanyl toxicity caused his death, and that Chauvin’s use of force was appropriate to subdue a 6’4 man intoxicated with illegal substances that can give some superhuman strength.
Floyd’s girlfriend Courtney Ross described Floyd’s addiction to painkillers, testifying Floyd overdosed in March 2020 and she believed he began using again two weeks before his May death.
An autopsy found methamphetamine and fentanyl in Floyd’s system, while investigators also found pills contained methamphetamine and fentanyl inside Floyd’s vehicle.
The prosecutor argued Floyd didn’t exhibit overdose symptoms and instead pointed to the knee pressed on Floyd’s neck as the cause of death. That attorney cited a forensic toxicologist who found fentanyl levels were “well below” that of people who die from an overdose and only a “very low” level of methamphetamine in Floyd’s blood.
“The experts all agree and the videos show that George Floyd did not die the way someone who dies from a fentanyl overdose dies,” Prosecutor Steve Schleicher said. “His breathing, it didn’t slow down. He didn’t fall asleep. He didn’t go into a coma. No, this looked nothing like a fatal fentanyl overdose.”
In a civil lawsuit, Floyd’s family settled with the city of Minneapolis for a record $27 million last month.
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Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.
Why did you increase the time? It was a little over 8 minutes, then upped to 8 minutes and 46 seconds. Now, you’re exaggerating with 9 minutes and 45 seconds. Floyd died of an illegal drug overdose.
George Floyd was a career criminal – and an idiot for resisting arrest. There was probably no good way out of that situation for Chauvin. Now as a result of Floyd’s stupidity and irresponsibility , he’s dead , Chauvin’s life will never be the same , and BLM has an excuse to destroy everything they can get their hands on in the name of “justice” or “revenge” or whatever they’re naming it this week.
Murder….no, manslaughter….possibly. Either way if Floyd had complied with the officers instructions he might be alive today. (that is if the massive amount of drugs in his body didn’t kill him)
Floyd a hero? Give me a break! He was a thug. Did the police intentionally kill him? I think not.
The jurors ruled in FEAR if they didn’t convict. We now have 2 forms of justices in this country. You can have a “summer of love” with riots, violent protests – cop killers and be out of jail within 3 hrs thanks to BLM funded liberals like the VP. George Floyd was a criminal and NOT a hero as the liberal media would have you believe. Unfortunately he caused his own death by resisting arrest. Maxine waters and others like her should be the ones behind bars for inciting violence!
Who really commits the majority of these crimes go quietly “unnoticed” because the killers are not middle-class, they go unnoticed because the shooters had no mullet, nor were they eligible for the Utah Jazz, and (Bill) Gates Millennium, Scholarships. Only those with a country club car-sticker are displayed (plastered) on OUR U.S. media screens.
So, our masses remain ignorant to The Truth, due to their own ignorance of BEING ignorant. Poof! The sheeple were created.
The irony IS… it will be outstanding EDUCATIONS (& DE-sheeplefication) that brings these gangsters OUT of the ghetto, and could end their inherent systemic violence problem. That’s the cure, Education; and the cure is on a path that is simple to pursue. It’s so easy to see… smarter people ARE significantly less likely to commit crimes.
If ONLY “They” would TRY. Just ONE time. REALLY Try. Go “all in”. Those who spend the TRILLION$ of OUR tax monies… on absolutely NOTHING, but more PROFIT, could do this. But They (politicians and their Big Money owners) only wish to keep “the problem” around so they can always be fixing it “for” us. Imagine all that BRAND NEW government debt, going into corporations. So… 78% of all the U.S. Dollars ever printed, in all of history, were printed within the last 12 months… go into… “More profit”.
But, hey, I can’t complain for myself. Their wastefully corrupt spending into Big Tech, The War Stocks, etc., only ENSURES more profit… and (woot!) I own a LOT of “Big Money” stock. It’s America that has the problem. Well, if Biden’s idiocy ends our Reserve Currency Status (while kneeling to Xi & the CCP)… it’ll be the WORLD that has a problem.
I watched ALL the available videos, at no time was Chauvin`s knee in a position to cut off Floyd`s breathing. Having practiced Judo and Jui Jujitsu, I`ve been in worse holds and could still breathe.
Nothing but a Soviet show trial. The “Justice System” is a complete one sided sham now in this country. I work in the legal sector and at least 80% of all attorneys are ragging leftists, many also being Jewish.
The input of politicians is going to allow appeals to go forward because the jurors were terrified not to convict. I thing the former officer should have been convicted, the big mouth comments of Waters and Biden really put the jurors in a terrible place.
Waters and Biden should have kept their big mouths shut and let the judicial process take care of this.