George Floyd the verdict....

It is considered that the video evidence weighed very heavily with the jury in the Floyd case.

MayBee70

The only thing that crossed my mind this morning (and this isn’t excusing the police officers in any way) is I can’t imagine what it must be like policing a country where everyone you deal with potentially carries a gun. Having said that they are trained to deal with such situations. But it must make their job very difficult.

So many people carrying guns but three times as many black people killed as white in a country where around 75% of the population are "white".

killed killed by police

Let us hope the BLM movement begins to argue for a complete restructuring of the institutions in society. The U.K. included.

I noticed that the UN has criticised the Race Report as a sham produced by Johnson!s government.

I think that I an just waking up to what a momentous decision this verdict is.

IT IS THE FIRST TIME A WHITE POLICEMAN HAS BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER OF A BLACK MAN - EVER!!

How many black people have died at the hands of the police?

This at last is justice.

Definitely the correct decision.

Whitewavemark2

Let us hope the BLM movement begins to argue for a complete restructuring of the institutions in society. The U.K. included.

I noticed that the UN has criticised the Race Report as a sham produced by Johnson!s government.

The UN report on our Race Report has been almost ignored Whitewave. The UN report says "In 2021, it is stunning to read a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and misapplying statistics and studies into conclusory findings and ad hominem attacks on people of African descent," and call it a whitewash.

Now I have to say I see some positives in saying how many "people" are poor, disadvantaged, part of an institutional profiling system. But this was a race report, it was called the Race and Ethnic Disparities Report. By all means bring out another report telling us how this fits in with overall poverty, etc. but once again they have re-written the truth to get out a British National Party message.

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.

I have been around for long enough to know that politicians don't always deliver on their promises. Biden is saying the right things and I hope he makes police reform a priority in his presidency. You are right. The whole lot needs an overhaul.

I sincerely hope that this is going to be a lesson to other police officers who think they can get away with this in humane behaviour. I hope he never comes out of prison.

Chauvin's looking at 3 life sentences---75 years. Who cares ?

Alexa

"I hope Derek Chauvin is not going to be made scapegoat for institutional racism among the police.

(Whitewavemark)If he’d been found guilty of racism, then you could argue that he was a scapegoat, but he wasn’t, so isn’t."

But scapegoating happens when people believe a problem has been adequately dealt with by punishing one criminal.

There’s an easy solution to that - punish all of them. It’s not like there isn’t a steady stream of police officers killing people of colour in America.

To me, perhaps the most chilling aspect of the murder was that despite knowing that he was being filmed as he did it, Chauvin just didn't think he should stop, so confident presumably that nothing would happen to him. As i watched Floyd being bundled into the car, and then suffocated, my throat was constricting and I found it hard to breathe, my biggest nightmare is suffocation. Poor, poor man. Absolutely the right verdict, and a sad indictment of the USA that there was every any doubt as to what the correct verdict would be.

You have to wonder about the media, the police, etc. After all, without seeing the trial where they showed how Floyd had co-operated throughout until he was shown the small space he was expected to enter when he suffered from intense claustrophobia, the mainstream media would, on the whole, have shown it as resisting arrest. In the early days, the rhetoric around his criminal record just displayed how worthless his life was perceived. Without the videos, the protests and campaigns, I have no doubt that Chauvin would have got away with murder.

The whole police service needs to be overhauled it seems. Why was a man with so many complaints logged against him still in the job and in the front line. The police service is complicit in this murder as are the officers who stood by and watched it happen.

Alexa

Alexa

"I hope Derek Chauvin is not going to be made scapegoat for institutional racism among the police.

(Whitewavemark)If he’d been found guilty of racism, then you could argue that he was a scapegoat, but he wasn’t, so isn’t."

But scapegoating happens when people believe a problem has been adequately dealt with by punishing one criminal.

Here’s the proper definition of scapegoat

scapegoat
noun [ C ]
US /ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/

someone who is blamed or punished for another’s faults or actions:

He wasn’t blamed or punished for another’s faults or actions - he was the murderer of GF

EllanVannin

Chauvin's looking at 3 life sentences---75 years. Who cares ?

No unfortunately that won’t happen. They will run concurrently so he is probably looking at between 15-20 years.

AmberSpyglass

There’s an easy solution to that - punish all of them. It’s not like there isn’t a steady stream of police officers killing people of colour in America.

alexa amber has the answer.

Are there enough prisons though?

Whitewavemark2

AmberSpyglass

There’s an easy solution to that - punish all of them. It’s not like there isn’t a steady stream of police officers killing people of colour in America.

alexa amber has the answer.

Are there enough prisons though?

There will be a federal probe into Minneapolis police following the verdict.
To suggest that all police officers be punished because of those who are breaking the law is ludicrous.

Those who unlawfully kill should be imprisoned.

AGAA4

Whitewavemark2

AmberSpyglass

There’s an easy solution to that - punish all of them. It’s not like there isn’t a steady stream of police officers killing people of colour in America.

alexa amber has the answer.

Are there enough prisons though?

There will be a federal probe into Minneapolis police following the verdict.
To suggest that all police officers be punished because of those who are breaking the law is ludicrous.

Those who unlawfully kill should be imprisoned.

I think amber was being facetious - she didn’t mean all police just the ones who have killed a black person.

I then wondered if there sufficient police cells.

There are

Sorry Whitewavemark2 I am a bit touchy after 2nd vaccine and not seeing that it was facetious.

AGAA4

Sorry Whitewavemark2 I am a bit touchy after 2nd vaccine and not seeing that it was facetious.

That’s OK? we all have our off days. Got mine on Sunday, so I apologise in advance.

AGA there was nothing in the post to show that it was facetious, and we can’t be in the mind of others...which is where emojis come in and should be used.
There have been situations where the police have had to shoot a black person ( who is armed and intent on criminal acts) just as they sometimes have no choice but to shoot an armed white man. We can’t lump all these cases together.
The jury came to the right decision in the Chauvin case, and hopefully will be a sea change in the way that suspects are treated ( or mistreated) in the future, in particular the awful kneeling on the back of somebody’s neck.

Average yearly Rate of fatal shootings by ethnicity per million since 2015.

Black. 35

Hispanic 26

White 14.

And no they are not always armed or intent on criminal acts.