This story is a powderkeg just waiting to explode.
By now we’ve all heard of/or watched the video where the Minneapolis police officer kneels on a man’s neck for over 5 minutes. The man, Mr. George Floyd, died later, presumably from injuries encountered as a result of that altercation.
The incident sparked outrage among most Americans. Personally, I couldn’t even watch the video, it just hurt my heart to see that kind of inhumanity.
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Folks flooded the streets to protest the death of Mr. Floyd, and sadly, looters and rioters took over and turned the entire “protest” into a giant spectacle of fire, violence, and vandalism.
It’s clear that emotions are running very hight regarding this situation – especially when the ugly situation unfolded on a video that we can all see with our own eyes and hear with our ears.
With that all said, now thee Minneapolis prosecutor has come forward and is saying that he has seen “evidence” that “may” clear the officer and urged everyone to calm down and wait for all of the evidence to come out.
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman stressed the need to see all the evidence before jumping to a conclusion regarding the death of George Floyd.
Addressing reporters at a Thursday afternoon press conference, Freeman mentioned that he had seen evidence that may exonerate Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was videotaped kneeling on the neck of Floyd for several minutes.
“My job, in the end, is to prove he violated a criminal statute, and there’s other evidence that does not support a criminal charge,” Freeman said. “We need to wade through all of that evidence and to come through with a meaningful determination, and we’re doing that to the best of our ability.”
Freeman’s answer was in response to an unnamed reporter who said Floyd was “clearly struggling to breathe” during the altercation with Chauvin. Freeman said he could not respond to the question because of the nature of his job.
“It’s a violation of my ethics to talk and evaluate evidence before we announce our charging decision, and I will not do that,” Freeman said. “I will say this, that that video is graphic and horrific and terrible, and no person should do that.”
This police officer Derek Chauvin has been involved in 17 complaints against his job performance over the past 19 years he’s worked on the force.
That’s nearly one complaint a year. And yet, he was never fired?
If I made 17 mistakes at my job, I would have been fired – deservedly so.
All I have to say is that this man better has some really MIND-BLOWING “evidence'” to even suggest such a thing.
I understand wanting to calm folks down, but given the circumstances and the video, I don’t know if this was the smartest way to go about it.
This piece was written by Missy Crane on May 28, 2020. It originally appeared in WayneDupree.com and is used by permission.
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