George Floyd the verdict....

suziewoozie

Whitewavemark2

One of his petty criminal activities was to buy opioid prescriptions made out for others and use them to get the drugs.

Hardly a hardened criminal.

In fact Floyd came across as a caring gentle man, whose addiction troubled him and who desperately tried to stop the addiction.

But actually, the truth of the range and extent of his criminal past are irrelevant when discussing the verdict. He was murdered because he was black and his murderer and his accomplices believed themselves above the law.

Absolutely but it was brought up at the trial and in the right wing media. He was portrayed as a hardened criminal which simply wasn’t true.

And this is happening all the time the media manipulates the truth and therefore peoples opinions.

We see it all the time. Just look at what you see believed on GN. And this is just a tiny microcosm of British society.

Suziewoozie I am not saying he was innocent. Perhaps I needed another word. Some say the police were brave in condemning him but the other side of the coin is they knew the whole of their Department would be in dead schtuck so they came out and threw stones at Chauvin so to speak. This could have been to deflect any blame from themselves. Lots of people are very anti police and will continue to be so unless their methods of policing are overhauled.

Whitewavemark2

One of his petty criminal activities was to buy opioid prescriptions made out for others and use them to get the drugs.

Hardly a hardened criminal.

In fact Floyd came across as a caring gentle man, whose addiction troubled him and who desperately tried to stop the addiction.

But actually, the truth of the range and extent of his criminal past are irrelevant when discussing the verdict. He was murdered because he was black and his murderer and his accomplices believed themselves above the law.

One of his petty criminal activities was to buy opioid prescriptions made out for others and use them to get the drugs.

Hardly a hardened criminal.

In fact Floyd came across as a caring gentle man, whose addiction troubled him and who desperately tried to stop the addiction.

25Avalon

I am concerned Chauvin may be being sacrificed as a scapegoat by the police. By which I mean have the police acted to protect themselves by coming out against him to get themselves off the hook? Have the police apologised, have they revised their training methods, have they stopped shooting unarmed civilians etc? The whole police system needs overhauling.

He’s being punished for committing murder - nothing scapegoat about that. Yes there are other culpable individuals and systems and let’s hope change comes about but I’m not hopeful. His guilt is not lessened if others unfairly go free. A scapegoat surely means someone innocent - he wasn’t .

i do have some concern for his welfare whilst in prison
I don’t. He’s going to experience terror. That same terror that George Floyd felt as he was being murdered.

I am concerned Chauvin may be being sacrificed as a scapegoat by the police. By which I mean have the police acted to protect themselves by coming out against him to get themselves off the hook? Have the police apologised, have they revised their training methods, have they stopped shooting unarmed civilians etc? The whole police system needs overhauling.

Absolutely the right verdict. I hope the sentencing reflects the crime and that Chauvin is sent down for life.
I just wish Biden had been able to trust the jury without interfering, hope he hasn’t strengthened the potential for an appeal.
No member of the public should ever fear the police. Those police officers who bring the force into disrepute are despised by fellow officers and the public alike.

I know EllenVannin. I wasn't criticising, it's just that justice is what is needed and a trial ends in the verdict of your peers.

It's so important for America. My family, as always, was carrying on our tri-cornered conversation when I joined this thread. Just as we talk between UK, Australia and the U.S., the world is watching to see if justice can be done in America.

A thought from our conversation (Australia in this instance). "Well done the jury and well done the Police Department for not simply closing ranks to save face and for calling out the criminal using their uniform".

Exactly suzi

Floyd had an opioid addiction, which is true of thousands upon thousands of people in the USA brought about by the overuse of pain killers by the doctors and fraudulent pushing by the big pharmaceuticals.

It affects all groups of society from the age if 12 upwards.

Floyd was constantly attempting to kick the habit and was clean for relatively long periods in his life. His petty criminal activity, like the alleged $20 counterfeit note was associated with this addiction.

Sarnia

Correct decision. What I found shocking about the footage was that not one of the other police officers at the scene attempted to stop what was happening. Weren't they shocked by Chauvin's actions?

I agree Sarnia wonder if they will be brought to book

Correct decision. What I found shocking about the footage was that not one of the other police officers at the scene attempted to stop what was happening. Weren't they shocked by Chauvin's actions?

Beckett

Whilst I agree with this verdict - I do think there is a danger of turning George Floyd into a saint. It must be remembered he was a career criminal who once held up a pregnant woman with a gun. That doesn't mean I think he should have been killed - Chauvin obviously used excessive force and deserves to be punished for his death but that doesn't mean we should forget Floyd's victims

It is simply NOT true about the pregnant woman. Also whilst he was a convicted criminal, he had made attempts to sort himself out. The fact that there are lies about him on social media aimed at demonising him and thus minimising the seriousness of his murder, tells many of us all we need to know about racism both here and in the US.

Over the weekend a 13 year old boy was shot dead by the American police.

No excuse for violence such as there was. It's because of violence meted out by the police which creates violence amongst the public and so it goes on ad infinitum.
No wonder there's no respect for the law.

Yesterday a black girl was shot dead by American police.

I think one of the things that struck me were the comments of the police attending who said that the crowd were ugly and they (the police) were worried there would be trouble.

If you had heard that without seeing the footage you would perhaps have believed them, but it was absolutely not true. To my mind the few folk there watching the murder whilst pleading for his life were cowed to the extent that they stood back against the wall and absolutely no attempt was made to stop what took place.

Any interaction between the police and black by standers showed a section of American society cowed and frightened by the so called law makes.

It was stunning.

Whilst I agree with this verdict - I do think there is a danger of turning George Floyd into a saint. It must be remembered he was a career criminal who once held up a pregnant woman with a gun. That doesn't mean I think he should have been killed - Chauvin obviously used excessive force and deserves to be punished for his death but that doesn't mean we should forget Floyd's victims

I don't think any other verdict could have been brought in, if somehow he was found not guilty there would have been riots and further violence.

I think it is fortunate that we do have the footage because it does show his complete disregard for Floyd's welfare and that the verdict was the correct one. I do have some concern for his welfare whilst in prison - he will be a target, first for his crime and second because he was a police officer.

I do agree with the Judge who said that comments made by some politicians could provide Chauvin with grounds for a mistrial. They should have waited until after the verdict before making comments

We will have to wait until sentencing and hope it is a reflection of the crime and does not water it down,

There was footage of Trump white supremicists jeering at people who were laying flowers at a shrine in Floyds memory.

I watched the entire trial, except the concluding statements.

Justice has been done

I feel sad for the 17 year old girl who filmed this. Apparently she was sent threats through social media from white supremacists plus she has those memories embedded in her mind. She sent her 9 year old cousin into the shop so she wouldn't have to witness what was happening .
I hope she has counselling to help her come to terms with watching a policeman murder someone. I also hope she is aware of how her brave actions have brought about a change in how police brutality is becoming accountable for its actions.

Haul = Chauvin can’t think how that got changed

Haul in is quite an apt name for that man.