So…do Glenn Youngkin, Winsome Earle-Sears, Jason Miyares, etc. agree with the 2025 VA GOP Lt. Governor nominee, John Reid, on this? If not, it would be great to hear their thinking as to why not. So first of all, a quick reminder of what happened to George Floyd:
On May 25, 2020, police were called by a Cup Foods grocery store employee, who suspected that Floyd had used a counterfeit $20 bill.[47] Floyd was sitting in a car with two other passengers. Police officers forcibly removed him from the car and detained him.[48]
Floyd was murdered by Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer,[49] who pressed his knee to Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds[50] while Floyd was handcuffed face down in the street.[51][52][53] As seen in a witness’s cellphone video,[5][54] two other officers further restrained Floyd, and a fourth prevented onlookers from intervening[55]: 6:24 [56][57] as Floyd repeatedly stated that he could not breathe.[13] During the final two minutes,[58] Floyd was motionless and had no pulse,[59][60] but Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd’s neck and back even as emergency medical technicians arrived to treat Floyd.[61]: 7:21
The medical examiner found that Floyd’s heart stopped while he was being restrained and that his death was a homicide[62][29] caused by “cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression”,[1] though fentanyl intoxication and recent methamphetamine use may have increased the likelihood of death.[63][64] A second autopsy, commissioned by Floyd’s family,[65][66] also found his death to be a homicide, specifically citing asphyxia due to neck and back compression;[67][65][68] it ruled out the possibility that underlying medical problems contributed to Floyd’s death[69] and said that Floyd being able to speak while under Chauvin’s knee did not mean he could breathe.[69]
On March 12, 2021, the Minneapolis city council approved a settlement of $27 million to the Floyd family after a wrongful death lawsuit.[70]
Chauvin was fired and charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.[71][72] He was found guilty on all three murder and manslaughter charges on April 20, 2021.[54] On May 12, Hennepin County district judge Peter Cahill allowed the prosecution to seek a greater prison sentence for Chauvin after finding that he treated
Now, was George Floyd the perfect human being? Obviously far from it, given that he “served eight jail terms on various charges, including drug possession, theft, and trespass”; also, “In 2007, Floyd faced charges for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon; according to investigators, he entered an apartment by impersonating a water department worker and barged in with five other men, held a pistol to a woman’s stomach, and searched for items to steal.”
So…no, Floyd was – as John Reid says – “NOT Dr. Martin Luther King jr… in any way.” Obviously not. But that does NOT justify having a police officer murder him, in cold blood – note that said police officer, Derek Chauvin, was “found guilty on all three murder and manslaughter charges.” Nor does making the argument that “when you’re a criminal don’t be surprised when bad things happen to you.” Because by that reasoning, forget about due process, forget about the punishment fitting the crime, forget about holding police to standards of behavior, etc., etc. – if you’re a criminal, according to this reasoning, pretty much anything goes, up to and including being asphyxiated by a police officer just because they feel like it. And that’s an extremely dangerous, brutal, lawless, uncivilized way to run a society…one that NOBODY, including conservatives, should want to see – even if the person being asphyxiated is “NOT Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
P.S. In stark contrast, Sen. Tim Kaine says: “It’s been 5 years since George Floyd was murdered. I’m disturbed that the DOJ recently halted ongoing investigations and dropped police agreements put in place after his death and other similar incidents to improve oversight and prevent tragedies. That’s dangerous.” See below for more comments, including from Rep. Jennifer McClellan (D-VA04) and former Delegate/current AG candidate Jay Jones
P.P.S. Someone just pointed out to me that “urban society” is code for the African-American community, also that Chauvin was an even worse criminal than Floyd. And many others have pointed out that Donald Trump is a convicted criminal – of serious crimes – while getting away with many other VERY serious crimes!
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