I have been interested in and supported the civil rights movement, and the modern-day extension, Black Lives Matter since the 90s. Like many people in the US, I am angered that George Floyd was murdered by a white cop, Derek Chauvin, while 3 other cops stood by as Floyd died. But I cannot condone the reaction of looting, rioting, and destruction of property, this is straight-up criminality. I just hope that the people genuinely protesting were not among the criminals looting and burning down local businesses.
Police and mainstream media have labeled black people as thugs, dangerous, and violent and used this as justification for murdering black men and women, and these riots in Minneapolis and other cities, just help them create that narrative. We saw the same scenes of rioting, looting, and destruction of property after Mike Brown was murdered in Ferguson, MO, and what good did that do? nothing, other than to allow the media to further demonize the black community and further their violent blacks narrative.
I want to see all four former officers, firstly, arrested and charged, then face trial. I won’t go as far as saying what the sentence should be, that’s for a judge and jury to decide, regardless of these officers’ actions, they deserve their day in court. I will say that the charge should be first-degree murder, Chauvin is on video holding his knee on George Floyd’s neck, while two other officers were also holding Floyd down, after being handcuffed, while he repeatedly pleaded for his life. It is disgraceful that often police departments put up the blue wall, shielding the involved officers, trying to justify murder.
The three other officers involved in this senseless killing are Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng. I believe all four should be charged with murder as they actively assisted or watched on as Floyd repeatedly said “I can’t breathe”, very reminiscent of Eric Garner, who was choked to death by NYPD officer, Daniel Pantaleo, who remained employed with the NYPD for a further five years before being fired, no charges were ever brought. We cannot respect police departments when they defend murder of the people they are charged with protecting, protect, and serve seemingly does not apply if you’re black.
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey called for Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman to bring Chauvin up on charges, what those charges might be, we don’t know, but his words indicate that he wishes for at least one officer to be arrested and charged. Going back to the Minneapolis Police Department, we have to question their motives, why were the four not immediately arrested after the videos surfaced of what happened, a later video showed that their claim that Floyd resisted was a lie, Floyd is seen calmly walking to the police car when he stumbled on a curb and fell to the ground behind the police car.
Back to the rioting and looting, I really hope that the genuine protesters did not take part in this criminal activity, and I really hope that the official Black Lives Matter movement does not condone this sort of action. I suspect the people looting are criminals taking advantage of the situation, as there appear to be black and white people looting multiple stores in the Lake Street area of the city of Minneapolis.
It’s hard to know what is true on social media as the propaganda is flying from all sides, I heard some justifying the looting and setting ablaze of Target because allegedly store employees refused to give or sell, depending on which tweet you read, milk to black people who had been teargassed by police on the previous day. It is also claimed that Target funds the local Police Department, which some claim makes them a legitimate target. In my opinion, neither of those things justify the criminality we saw last night.
I’m all for peaceful protest, and activism, either in person or by making phone calls to local police and justice departments and posting your support on social media, it all helps. We have seen this in recent times, the Ahmaud Arbery shooting is a prime case of social media pressure directly caused the arrest and charging of his murderers, which the local Glynn County, GA Police Department had covered up.
I’m a white guy, originating from Great Britain, married to an African American woman, with two bi-racial children, so I am very aware of race issues, as an interracial couple, we have experienced racism from both whites and blacks. I worry about something happening to my wife or kids while interacting with police or just some racist asshole with a gun. I have even been accused of being a race traitor because I chose to marry a black woman. Every time I hear about or see videos of African Americans being murdered by police or other white people, it angers me, it’s fucking 2020, why is this still a problem?
This is exactly what I was talking about; rioting and looting just allow racists like Donald J. Trump to call for further violence, violence begets more violence. And in the meantime, the narrative has gone from George Floyd’s murder to non-stop video of destruction perpetrated by the African American community.
….These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 29, 2020
May, 30 2020, 06:07: Unsurprisingly, the riots have continued overnight, expanding to other cities, after the arrest and announcement of third-degree murder and manslaughter charges for Derek Chauvin, while the other three former officers involved in the murder of George Floyd are still free. I would love to think that these riots would make a difference, but it won’t, African Americans protesting has never changed the minds of the people in power, racism is rife in the US, and Trump is the Grand Wizard.
Hennepin County Attorney, Mike Freeman said after the arrest “This is by far the fastest that we’ve ever charged a police officer”, my response, are you fucking joking? how much evidence do you need? there were multiple videos, from multiple angles showing everything that happened from the time George Floyd was pulled from his car to the moment he died under the knee of Derek Chauvin, on day one.
A third-degree murder charge is an insult, George Floyd’s death was not an accident, it was premeditated; when a person keeps their knee on the neck of a person that is clearly in distress, pleading for his life, and even after Floyd had passed out, Chauvin continued to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck for a further 2 1/2 minutes, that is first-degree murder, not third-degree murder, and certainly not manslaughter.
I’ll leave you with this very raw and powerful message from Killer Mike, sentiments I agree with.