By now everyone has seen, or heard about, the video of accused police officer Derek Chauvin choking George Floyd to death while two other cops held Floyd down and another stood by fending off horrified onlookers; and to almost everyone watching that video, it looked like an act of murder. That video sparked an uproar and nationwide protests which continue.
But that video doesn’t offer clues about why the officers did it. Newly released body-cam footage answers that question.
Police brutality nearly always is retaliatory. The victim did something to provoke it, although it may have been minor. Cops don’t like it when people don’t cooperate, and even less when they resist. Argue with a cop over a traffic ticket and see what happens. Savvy drivers learn to be polite, or at least keep their mouths shut and save their objections for traffic court.
(The world, of course, is full of stupid people. Especially stupid are those who get angry and combative over a potential traffic fine, leading to being arrested, followed by a search of their car that turns up illegal drugs and sends them to jail.)
The police were called on George Floyd, who had a prior criminal record, when he allegedly tried to pass a fake $20 bill. That got him detained. The new footage shows he physically and verbally resisted being put in a patrol car, presumably to be transported for booking. (Read story here.) It’s the kind of offense for which a person typically is booked and then released with a court date.
Why did he resist? Floyd told the cops he was claustrophobic. His freakout may have been genuine. But cops aren’t psychiatrists or social workers. When he struggled, and didn’t pull his legs in, they became pissed. They decided to teach him a lesson. One that went way, way too far.
The bottom line is, what Floyd did wasn’t remotely a legal or moral excuse to kill him, and Chauvin is facing murder charges as he deserves to. Chauvin probably did it believing he would get away with it, unaware the public was running out of patience with police “street justice.”
In any case, the new video shows, and seemingly explains, what triggered the police actions that set off a nuclear-scale explosion of pent-up public frustration with racism-fueled police brutality against people of color.
Of course at this time Chauvin and the other cops involved are innocent of murder or any other crime, and will be until a Prosecutor proves they are guilty in front of a jury of their peers.
I am not sure the Prosecutor will be able to prove murder. Possible man slaughter. And the defense attorney is going to spend some time on the autopsy findings and have their expert to show the victim just had a heart attack and died of natural causes or the stress of being arrested.
Showing Floyd had a heart condition works against, not in favor of, the defense. That turns it into an assault on a vulnerable person. You couldn’t beat a homicide rap by attacking a senior citizen who wouldn’t have died if young and strong; you’d get an enhanced sentence.
The video does not show the cops innocent of the crime of murder. Just which degree of murder will they be charged with?