Apparently, no one is watching the trial of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer on trial for the murder of George Floyd. Otherwise, the media couldn’t get away with their spectacular lying to the public about how the prosecution is killing it.
It’s quite the opposite. In fact, in less than a week, the prosecution’s theory of the crime has subtly shifted from murder to “failed to provide what we would say, in retrospect, would be a full and complete duty of care during the one- to three-minute interval between Floyd’s resisting the police to his dying, as a hostile crowd screamed obscenities at the police officers.”
The defense hasn’t even begun to make its case, but the prosecution’s witnesses keep helping Chauvin. (The only exception to the wild media lying is Headline News, where the lawyer commentators go the extra mile by watching the trial.)
Week One was chock-a-block with weeping bystanders wailing about how they felt watching Chauvin restrain Floyd. This would be tremendous evidence if the charge against Officer Chauvin were “first-degree upsetting bystanders.” But that’s not the charge. That’s not even a crime.
One especially distraught witness, Charles McMillian, an elderly black man, testified to seeing “foam” coming out of Floyd’s mouth.
QUIZ: Is foam coming out of the mouth a sign of:
ANSWER: c) a drug overdose.
Apart from that crucial fact, McMillian’s evidence only pertained to “first-degree upsetting bystanders.” Which, again, is not a crime.
My favorite witness — and the media’s favorite, too! — was Genevieve Hansen, Feminist Hero. She appeared in court in her firefighter dress uniform and a belligerent mood — though not as belligerent as the day Floyd died, when she showed up in sweats and began shrieking at the officers.
The headlines are along the lines of “Firefighter: I Could Have Saved Floyd’s Life, But Police Wouldn’t Let Me.”
Yes, apparently, Genevieve would have invented a time machine, gone back, and stopped Floyd from ingesting three times the lethal dose of fentanyl. I take it back: Chubby girls make the best firefighters! (Don’t get snippy with me: It’s beyond outrageous that fire departments have abandoned all physical fitness requirements solely in order to hire more women.)
According to Genevieve, the police on the scene unaccountably refused to step aside and take direction from her, despite her full ONE YEAR of experience as a firefighter.
Genevieve was totally on top of the situation. In her statement to investigators shortly after the event, she described Floyd as a “small, slim man.” Floyd was at least 6-foot-4 and weighed 230 pounds. The largest police officer on the scene was Chauvin, coming in at 5-foot-9 and 140 pounds. Genevieve missed nothing!
Even in the calm setting of a courtroom, with no agitated bystanders yelling at her, here are the things Genevieve says she would have done to save Floyd’s life!
1. “I would have requested additional help.”
2. “I would have wanted someone to call 911.”
3. “I would have asked someone to run to the gas station and look for an AED [a defibrillator].”
Why didn’t the officers think to call for medical backup??? Oh yeah, they already had. Twice. Starting about 10 minutes before Genevieve even showed up.
4. “I would have checked his airway.”
5. “I would have been worried about a spinal cord injury.”
As we know from the autopsy, there was no problem with Floyd’s airway or spinal cord. (But, as long as you bring it up, his body did contain three times the lethal dose of fentanyl.)
6. “I would have checked for a pulse.”
Eureka! Why didn’t — oh wait, the officers had done this, repeatedly, as several bystander witnesses had already confirmed.
By now, Floyd was dead. That’s when she would have started chest compressions.
So Genevieve, the state’s star witness on what the cops did wrong, testified that she would have done pretty much everything the officers did. But she would have been a lot bossier about it.
As much as Genevieve’s one year with the fire department made her an expert on when a police officer should begin chest compressions, the Minneapolis Police Department’s own experts directly contradicted her this week. These were, again, prosecution witnesses.
On Tuesday, Lt. Johnny Mercil, the MDP’s use-of-force trainer, and Officer Nicole Mackenzie, the MPD’s medical support coordinator, testified that it would be appropriate not to provide care to a suspect who had just been fighting with officers, or in the presence of a hostile crowd.
Chauvin had both those circumstances.
Trying to do damage control, the prosecutor asked Officer Mackenzie to define a “hostile” crowd. She said, “a growing contingent of people around, if they’re yelling, being even verbally abusive to those trying to provide scene security.”
Hey — remember those weeping bystanders last week? Their own testimony confirmed that they were “yelling and even being verbally abusive to those trying to provide scene security.”
Donald Williams, for example, the bouncer and MMA hobbyist, admitted to continuously berating the officers — all of which is on tape — calling Chauvin (expletive names). In one of the tapes, Williams threatens Officer Tou Thao, saying, “I swear I’ll slap the (expletive) out of both of you!”
And of course, there was the lovely Genevieve screeching, “I have your name tag, (expletive)!”
Now you know why prime-time cable suddenly went back to covering covid vaccination schedules this week.
(14) comments
Judge, trial, executioner, not what a cop is suppose to be.
“Hvnfun!” A police officer is supposed to detain and arrest a criminal! The criminal should be responsible and accountable for his/her actions when caught to allow a judge and trial! Unfortunately when criminals are high on drugs and refuse arrest, they put themselves into situations that sometimes end in death! Believe it or not, statistics show an officer involved death are few and far between!
If those are actually following this case! Mr. hold a gun to a pregnant woman’s baby! Yet Again, decided to commit another crime. This man if you watch video, literally walked around the store for over 20 minutes! Why? Simple! He knew that he was high! He knew that he was committing another crime! He knew that he should have left! “He didn’t!” Which is why he acted the way he did! This man refused to go back to jail and be held accountable for his actions! It’s time we hold criminals accountable for their actions! He put himself in this predicament, period!
Has anyone, Just One, thought if this Drag On Society had NOT done something against the "LAW" he would be alive today. Just like this Other Felon in Minneapolis on Sunday. bad thingss happen when you break the Law.
Stop making excuses for theys Low Life's. They deserve what they get. Too Bad, SO SAD!!
What a disgusting thing to say... people make mistakes, some people even get in trouble with the law. That, however, does not mean all those people "deserve what they get," or in this case, death. Your extremist point of view is disturbing to say the least. Floyd didn't "deserve" anything except a car ride to the police station for further evaluation and proper sentencing if any was due. I am sure you have family or friends who have, at some point, broken the law (whether they were caught or not); do you believe they would deserve the same treatment? I doubt it. Maybe (if you are capable) you should try putting yourself in other's shoes and showing some compassion once in a while.
Objective - His comment is par for the course, it shows his low intelligence...
It's referred to as compliance. The law is the law, listen to commands. If your guilty, you're dirty. Stop playing the name game. Get some Vitiman D and go outside.
“OD!” Agree 100%! Everyone makes mistakes, yet we learn from them! This man did not! This man created his situation! These “Havasu Liberals” are so amusing, like the BLM leaders, they choose to live in heavily white “Republican” cities! If these jaw jabbers actually cared they’d move into these cities and help their cause!
I just have to ask, all those people that stood around taking video of this event, no one, zero, nada stepped in to help save this guys life. There is enough blame in this entire scenario to go around. I see a whole bunch of fault, for a whole bunch of people, and how do you resolve that?? I get the "someone has to pay", but in this case exactly who, is still unclear. I just have to ask, who pays for Ashli Babbits murder? Guess no one since she was a white female.
What Ann fails to mention is how the Hennepin County Medical Examiner who performed Floyd's autopsy stood by his original word in trial, and stated the cause of death was homicide. Did Floyd have underlying health conditions and drugs in his system? Yes, but the medical examiner stated Chauvin's actions pushed Floyd's body over the edge and Floyd simply couldn't handle it. The heart conditions he had and the fentanyl in his system were "contributing factors" but not the overall cause of death. I'm sorry, but no matter what, there was no excuse for Chauvin's actions and his excessive use of force.
Once again this pathetic excuse for a columnist spews utter nonsense in defense of a rogue cop who knelt on the neck of a defenseless black man for nearly ten minutes. Tell you what lady (?), why don't you set up a news conference where a large man - black, white or brown - kneels on your neck for ten minutes while we all watch. Come on, DO IT!
I am reminded of that fool Hannity, who YEARS ago, told us all he would volunteer to be waterboarded - yep, he has yet to do it.
[smile]
Maybe if the police officer followed protocol and simply didn't kneel on Floyd's neck for 10 minutes, he wouldn't have put HIMSELF in this predicament.
Advocating violence on others is not the answer. Two wrongs don’t make a right.
Speaking of pathetic... your use of the profile picture to promote your latest rag of a book is cheap and unprofessional. How about supporting the paper and take out an ad.
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