Chauvin Guilty
The verdict of the jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial has just been published, and it’s guilty on all three counts. I believe this verdict is appropriate especially since Chauvin showed reckless disregard of George Floyd’s life as it drained away under his knee. This trial is not just one trial of one murder. It was hopefully a turning point in policing and our own culture that has accepted for far too many years inequality according to skin color and economic status. This sordid story should change the conversation in America about race and the police. How we respond to it will determine the direction of that change.
now breathe
1This was the right verdict. I hate that it took such an outcry, just like Vanessa Guillén, to get justice.
2There will be inmates that want to kill him. To them he’s as bad or worse than the pedophiles, baby killers, and the mother killers. Cops that kill don’t do well in the big house. The hole is the only place where he’ll be safe.
3Yes, we can breathe. Wish George Floyd was still breathing. There are others still to be tried in his murder. There are also other cases that need to be prosecuted from recent shootings as well.
4Jerry Blackwell, one of the Chauvin prosecutors, ended the defense’s rebuttal by saying:
“You were told George Floyd died because his heart was too big but he died because Derek Chauvin’s heart was too small.”
The comment is at once stunning in it’s brutal honesty and heartbreaking in its simplicity.
Justice prevailed; I hope this is the beginning of a long-needed change.
5Suddenly the future seems more hopeful. A jury found a white cop guilty of murdering a black man. i’m hoping that the next cop thinks about this before unloading his gun in the direction of another human being regardless of race, color, or creed. If we cannot hold those accountable who have a badge, and then abuse that privilege, then what is the point of a country. If we cannot bring justice to one, then we betray the hope implicit in our constitution…
6To everyone shown above, a reminder that there are multiple appeals yet to be filed. It ain’t over yet. More pain will follow.
7Mike in MO @7. True. However, Chauvin had his bail revoked and was remanded into custody from the courtroom. He’ll be doing his appeals from prison. We didn’t watch the trial gavel to verdict, but did read the daily coverage. Didn’t see much in of anything as grounds for appeal. Even the old standby “inadequate counsel” appears to be missing. With all the available video, there wasn’t much defense counsel could do with the facts.
As for the MN appellate courts, anyone at the WMDBS familiar with their recent pattern of rulings?
As for judicial reform, Congresswoman Val Demings (D-Fl) planted her stiletto where it would do Gym Jordan the most good. In a display of good sense, Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler stayed out of the Congresswoman’s way.
https://news.yahoo.com/did-strike-nerve-house-police-205000828.html
8Redlines: “We don’t do that.”
Fox groans host’s colleagues were stunned by his reactions to the Derek Chauvin trial verdict
Edit: ”I’m at least being honest,” Greg Gutfeld said. defending himself. “My neighborhood was looted, I don’t ever want to go through that again.
Pirro replied, saying, “Greg, Greg, we do not sacrifice individuals, for the sake, oh having people feel –”
Scroll down for audible woes and hissy melodrama.
https://www.alternet.org/2021/04/fox-news-chauvin-verdict/
9Good. Yeah there will be appeal(s). But chauvin has been remanded. So he will appeal from jail. Hopefully in general population. Also good…..his lawyer is an idiot. Good luck to that one writing the appeal.
10Don’t expect police killings to drop off permanently, if at all. And don’t expect more successful prosecutions.
How many police killings do you recall that happened over a quarter hour, in daylight, with a crowd?
11Harry @ 9:
12Yes, those expectations are probably optimistic.
But like commentators on CNN pointed out, everybody’s got video in their pockets now, and cops know it. And the major thing is that so many cops testified against him.
Those things may not be reason for optimism.
But maybe we can start tempering our pessimism.
Here’s what the white racists think.
Women for Trump official: They’ll riot anyway because they don’t want to miss ‘free ticket for a shopping spree’ – Raw Story
https://www.rawstory.com/racist-women-for-trump-group/
13I’m a Minnesotan, having lived in both Minneapolis and St. Paul. I didn’t know I was holding my breath for the past 11 months till the verdict came in this afternoon, and I breathe deeply.
The prosecutor’s were outstanding and the judge was as fair and legally correct as it’s possible to be. No one is talking about any possible causes to overturn the verdict, so the murderer shouldn’t hold out much hope.
The cops who testified, including Chief Arrodondo, were critical. Arrodondo has been trying to reform the MPD since he became chief about 18 months ago, and the cop union has thwarted him at every opportunity. The racist, misogynist, bully president of the union saw this coming and retired. The white scumacysts in the MPD may be at the end of their days.
Although all decent Minnesotans are pleased at the verdict, we know it’s not over and George Floyd is still dead. The other 3 cops go to trial in August. The cop who just gunned down an innocent man last week will probably be tried early next year.
Gov. Walz (D) really wants to make genuine changes but, unfortunately our state Senate has a GQP majority and the leader wants to be a mini-Mitch. In addition, we have some white scumacysts, too many. Our Democratic House and the entire Senate is up for election next year and we’re gonna work our assess off to get a fully Democratic government for all Minnesotans, especially our BIPOC neighbors.
14Debbo @12. thank you for the good news from MN, and your as always great insight into the issues.. Hope all is well with you and yours. Best 2022 election outcomes to you!
We have no idea how many cops are good people. But if the number is from 70-90%, that is a lot of good people. It’s also a lot of cops. We can easily do without 10-30% of them who disqualify themselves. As Debbo shared, the MN cops stepped up. Especially Chief Arrodondo who has sent the MPD union chief fleeing.
When the momentum shifts, that’s a good thing.
Work to be done nationally. In light of Congresswoman Deming’s stiletto shots against Gym Jordan’s bow, it’s a good shift.
15Thank God (and the jury, judge, witnesses and prosecutors).
16Appeals or no, Chauvin has spent his last day brutalizing anybody else under cover of a badge.
I’m not so sure that Chauvin won’t be just fine in prison. The white supremacists/neo nazis will hail him as a hero/martyr and racist jail guards will look after him. Certainly his very presence at whatever prison he lands in will rile up all sorts of factions in the populace. I wish I was a better person and had concerns for his safety. But I’m not and I don’t.
17Actually, he might get an inkling of what many black people feel every day when they leave home…fearful, watchful, and never knowing when he leaves the “safety” of his cell whether he’ll get back there at the end of the day. His prison pals can’t babysit him every minute.
18One thing that scares me is that in this case, justice depended on a teenager’s phone battery being charged.
19also highlighting the difference a State AG election can make. Keith Ellison took over this case early, made sure it was taken seriously, put a capable team on it, and stayed out of the way. Meanwhile down in Kentucky, Daniel Cameron stuffed the whole thing in his pocket. The cops who murdered Breanna Taylor, and the ones who covered it up, are free as the proverbial birds. One of them is about to publish a book and cash in. And whenever the Chelonian One decides to retire, Cameron is positioned to take his place in the Senate.
20Now that the DOJ is investigating the Minneapolis PD, there is hope that the former head of the Police Union, Bob Kroll, could face a reckoning for all the times he told members of his union to disregard orders from the City of Minneapolis.
Kroll is a bully and a racist and is directly responsible for “officers” like Chauvin to remain on the force. Kroll also encouraged police to take “Warrior” training even though the city forbade it.
I question whether these unions should exist.
21Chauvin’s going to go to a minimum security prison. The people he’ll be surrounded by— lawyers, accountants, profession managerial class types– are the people he would never have treated discourteously, and they won’t hold George Floyd’s death against him.
22There will be appeals and motions before sentencing (and after) but hopefully the judge will not be inclined to be lenient when he rules. Beside the aggravating circumstances, he needs to consider the 18 other violations in Chauvin’s 19 year record. His 19th violation was murder as the jury quickly and unanimously found. He needs the max+ Sentence even if it’s in a prison with like minded inmates.
23The other 3 cops should be shaking in their boots, and rightfully so.