Derek Chauvin found guilty on all three charges -- manslaughter, 3rd degree murder, 2nd degree murder. A few thoughts:
- I am somewhat surprised Chauvin got Murder Two, but given the enormous fear this region has been feeling ever since this all began, it's not a complete surprise. A jury that did not deliver what the mob wanted was gonna get doxxed and threatened.
- Chauvin may have a chance at an appeal because of Maxine Waters, but he'd have had a better chance in a state where the judiciary isn't a wholly owned subsidiary of the DFL. This would have gone down very differently across the St. Croix, I think.
- And that's part of what sticks in my craw about all this. I don't hold any brief for Chauvin, who was the bully boy cop from central casting. Police are, at best, a necessary evil, and this dude was not a hero by any means. Having said that, Chauvin was doing what he was asked to do. And that means we should stop asking the Chauvins of the world to do such bidding. All regimes hire rough men to protect the vulnerable, but if we're not serious about protecting the vulnerable any more, and based on the available evidence we aren't serious, we should stop with the bullshit half measures.
- And therein lies the larger question: why are Chauvin, and by extension all police, doing the things they are asked to do? George Floyd might have died that day anyway, given that he had a likely lethal amount of fentanyl in his system. The danger to the public, I suppose, is if he drove off and caused a pileup on the interstate. That's a hypothetical. What officers actually do is more about financial considerations. Many of the tasks police pursue are revenue generation and not public safety. That question is even more relevant in the Daunte Wright case -- he was stopped because of an expired license tab. That's not a public safety issue, but the Wright case became a public safety issue because we ask our law enforcement to do these penny ante shakedowns. And since the cop in that instance had a brain fart and shot the guy, we've been living in fear for weeks.
- Finally, we need to be honest about the precise reasons we live in fear around there. We have seen vast swathes of our city burned and looted and our elected (not be me, mind you) representatives have ceded control of the city to the woke and their grasping acolytes. This town is chock full of grifters and grievance entrepreneurs at all times, but we also now import 'em, too. This screen shot (h/t Mitch Berg) sums things up nicely:
 |
| Grievance is lucrative |
- Seriously, get back on yer plane and leave us alone, Al.
2 comments:
Guilty on all ? Floyd died one time, how is he guilty for three killings?
I think justice demands a mistrial in this case, and I hate cops.
But he won't get one.
Our system if justice is way to politicized to be call a system of justice anymore.
Hell, even SCOTUS won't do its job.
Gino
Police reform should definitely include the really stupid procedures such as no-knock raids, and minor traffic offenses. There's no reason for an armed government official to be pulling someone over for tabs, or even failure to use a turn signal. We don't arm meter readers (if any of these still exist in the digital age of parking meters). There are ways of getting information and enforcing ordinances that don't require a physical presence. Similarly, if someone breaks into your car and steals your stereo or other property, the policy come out - not to investigate, but to give you an official document for your insurance company. They don't "investigate" anything; a "meter-reader" administrative officer could handle this, freeing up officers to deal with real community threats.
If someone is potentially threatening the physical safety of the community at large, say by speeding or driving drunk, then make the judgment call. Further, I'd argue that "police reform" starts with a review of all laws the politicians love to pass to show they're "doing something". Every "law" should have to pass the "is this something I'd want an armed person to enforce" test.
Post a Comment