Tag: George Floyd

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Officer Charged In George Floyd Murder Seeks To Block Evidence Of Prior Neck Restraints

L-R George Floyd (screen capture), Derek Chauvin (mug shot)
The former police officer who held his knee on George Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds until Floyd lost consciousness and died is asking that evidence of prior use of similar restraints be blocked from being introduced by prosecutors. From the Washington Post:

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee at George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and is now charged with his murder, has asked the judge in his case to block prosecutors from introducing evidence of his allegedly having used similar neck and body restraints on other suspects.

Chauvin’s lawyer argues in new court documents that his “use of force” in those cases was legal and cleared by police supervisors.

Prosecutors have said they want to cite eight incidents from Chauvin’s 19-year career as a Minneapolis police officer to show a pattern of excessive force and behavior similar to the Memorial Day encounter that left Floyd dead.

Prosecutors want to include four cases from 2014 to 2019 in which they claim Chauvin restrained suspects “beyond the point when such force was needed.”

Read more at the Washington Post.

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Trump: George Floyd Protesters ‘Didn’t Know Why They Were Protesting’

In an interview with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner today, Donald Trump declared many of those protesting in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder “didn’t know” why they were there. The remarks came after Faulkner asked what the Donald believes the protesters across the county want or need from him. “So I think you had protesters for different reasons, and then you had protesting also because they just didn’t know,” Trump said. “I’ve watched. I watched it very closely. ‘Why are you here?’ And they really weren’t able to say. But they were there — for a reason perhaps. Perhaps? “But a lot of them really were there because they’re following the crowd,” he continued. “A lot of them were there because what we witnessed was a terrible thing. What we saw was a terrible thing, and we’ve seen it over the years. You know, this was one horrible example. but you’ve seen other terrible examples. You know that better than anybody would know it. And I know it. I’ve seen it too. I’ve seen it before I was president and during the presidency, I’ve seen it.” Earlier in the interview, Trump labeled the protests as ‘riots’ and ‘unnecessary.’ He also said that the date of his first campaign rally since the beginning of the COVID-19 health threat on Juneteenth wasn’t scheduled ‘on purpose.’ “The fact that I’m having a rally on that day — you can really think about that very positively as a celebration. Because a rally to me is a celebration,” Trump said. “It’s an interesting date. It wasn’t done for that reason, but it’s an interesting date.” As many know, June 19 is recognized as Juneteenth, the day the last slaves in the United States were freed. The Trump campaign picked Tulsa, Oklahoma, as the location for the rally. Black activists consider the date and the location a slap in the face in light of the 1921 ‘Black Massacre’ that occurred in the city 99 years ago. Nearly 300 Black Americans were killed in the incident that was sparked by the accusation a young Black man assaulted a white woman.

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More Arrests In George Floyd Killing, Officials Upgrade Derek Chauvin’s Murder Charge

George Floyd under the knee of former police officer Derek Chauvin (screen capture)
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee on an unarmed Black man’s neck until he lost consciousness, has had his murder charge upgraded. The other three fired officers who were present at the incident have now been charged as well. From the New York Times:

Minnesota officials charged three more former police officers on Wednesday in the death of George Floyd, and added a higher charge to those already lodged against the former officer who pressed his knee to Mr. Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

Keith Ellison, the attorney general of Minnesota, announced the charges at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The three officers, Thomas Lane, 37, J. Alexander Kueng, 26, and Tou Thao, 34, were charged with aiding and abetting murder, court records show. Mr. Kueng was in custody on Wednesday, county jail records showed. The authorities said they were in the process of arresting Mr. Lane and Mr. Thao.

The fourth officer, Derek Chauvin, 44, who was arrested last week, faces an increased charge of second-degree murder.

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Independent Autopsy Shows George Floyd Died Of Asphyxiation

L-R George Floyd (screen capture), Derek Chauvin (mug shot)
An independent autopsy found George Floyd died of asphyxiation diverging from the official report released last week. From the LA Times:

An autopsy commissioned for George Floyd’s family found that he died of asphyxiation due to neck and back compression when a Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes and ignored his cries of distress, the family’s attorneys said Monday.

The autopsy by a doctor who also examined Eric Garner’s body found the compression cut off blood to Floyd’s brain, and weight on his back made it hard to breathe, attorney Ben Crump said at a news conference.

The family’s autopsy differs from the official autopsy as described in a criminal complaint against the officer. That autopsy included the effects of being restrained, along with underlying health issues and potential intoxicants in Floyd’s system, but also said it found nothing “to support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”

Floyd, a black man who was in handcuffs at the time, died after the white officer ignored bystander shouts to get off him and Floyd’s cries that he couldn’t breathe.

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Louisville Police Fires Pepper Balls At Local News Crew

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Louisville’s NBC News affiliate reports the station’s own reporter, Kaitlin Rust, and photojournalist James Dobson, were hit by pepper balls reportedly fired by an LMPD officer during a protest in downtown Louisville Friday night.

It was previously reported that the officer was firing rubber bullets, but Jessie Halladay with the Louisville Metro Police Department said LMPD officers do not use rubber bullets, and it was likely that was Rust and Dobson were hit with pepper balls.

In response to what happened to Rust and Dobson, WAVE 3 News General Manager Ken Selvaggi issued a statement saying, “We strongly condemn the actions of the LMPD officer who tonight repeatedly fired at and hit our reporter and cameraman, both of whom were courageously and lawfully covering breaking news in their community. There is simply no justification for the Louisville police to wantonly open fire, even with pepper balls, on any journalists under any circumstances.”

During night two of several hundred protesters gathering downtown, crowds appear to be larger and police are continuing their efforts to clear the area.

Watch the brief video clip of the encounter below. One commenter on the YouTube page wrote, “It’s almost like they [police] are trying to start a war with civilians.”

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Fired Police Officer Who Knelt On George Floyd’s Neck Arrested

George Floyd, handcuffed on the ground as former Officer Derek Chauvin kneels on his neck
From NBC News:

The Minneapolis police officer shown on video putting his knee on the neck of George Floyd has been arrested, according to Minnesota Public Safety Commissioner John Harrington.

Derek Chauvin, who was fired on Monday along with three other officers involved in the detainment of Floyd, was taken into custody Friday.

Video showed Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck for at least eight minutes on Monday night. The police department initially said Floyd “physically resisted” the officers and that he died after “suffering medical distress.”

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the FBI are both investigating Floyd’s death.

Chauvin has been charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Friday afternoon. In related news, the local ABC News affiliate KSTP reports Chauvin and Floyd both worked as security guards at the El Nuevo Rodeo club on Lake Street, according to Maya Santamaria. Santamaria owned the building for nearly two decades, but sold the venue within the last few months. “Chauvin was our off-duty police for almost the entirety of the 17 years that we were open,” Santamaria said. “They were working together at the same time, it’s just that Chauvin worked outside and the security guards were inside.” So, it’s difficult to imagine the two men didn’t know each other. And then to find themselves in this odd situation? Something doesn’t add up here…

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News Round-Up: May 27, 2020

A man asks sex advice columnist if isolation could make him gay (stock image)
Some news items you might have missed: • Chicago Tribune: A 32-year-old man wrote to sex advice columnist Anna Pulley to ask if being isolated during the COVID-19 pandemic could be responsible for developing a sexual attraction to men. • KSTP: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has called for the police officer involved in the incident that led to the death of George Floyd to be arrested. Floyd was pronounced dead Monday night after he was taken into custody by police in south Minneapolis. A video that was circulated online shows an officer holding his knee on the back of Floyd’s neck for several minutes. • The Lincoln Project: As the COVID-19 death toll crossed the 100,000 mark in the U.S. today, the conservative anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project released a new campaign ad criticizing the Donald’s handling of the coronavirus health threat. The spot features Trump announcing on February 26 that “You have 15 people, and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero.” As his words echo, a shot of seven body bags slowly pulls back to reveal thousands.

• Out: NBA great Dwyane Wade and his daughter Zaya were celebrating this weekend by posting pics on social media of their matching bright red-dyed hair. It was yet another way the Hall of Fame parent is supporting and empowering his teenage trans child. • Hollywood Reporter: California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing has filed a lawsuit against the executive producers of the CBS series Criminal Minds, Disney and the network itself. The filing alleges multiple instances of sexual touching by Gregory St. Johns, a director of photography on the show. According to the lawsuit, over a dozen male employees were fired at the request of St. Johns when they complained or didn’t respond to his behavior which included butt slaps and pinches. • EXTRA: Pose star Billy Porter shares that quarantining with his husband Adam Smith has been “a very deepening time for our relationship.” Along with expressing the importance of self-care, Porter added, “I am mentally solid, I have been going through some trauma therapy that’s really intense.”