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© 2020 AFPU.S. police officer who kneeled on black man's neck charged with third-degree murder
By Joy Powell and Gilles Clarenne MINNEAPOLIS©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
56 Comments
oldman_13
There are three more officers that need to be charged as soon as possible. They are accessories to murder as well.
theFu
The US interpretations of legal protections by the SCOTUS has gone too far towards protecting law enforcement since they first began doing that 60-something years ago.
Police training has become far too aggressive and needs to step back to the Andy Griffin methods for initial contacts, not Judge Dredd methods. And the courts need to drastically change their protection of police at any cost rulings.
If there are 3 cops on 1 guy and they cannot subdue him within 30 seconds, then there's a problem. The cops need to be better trained or get more help.
Every death while either being held or captured by police needs a federal investigation. Local and state officials have proven they cannot be trusted with those investigations.
We owe this to our fellow citizens. One day, it might be you, your spouse, your child, or grandchild being arrested by the police. Don't they deserve the best, safest, treatment, possible too?
Artemis Rogers
We rather expect to be killed by random criminals rather than by the people our tax money pay to arm and who are supposed to protect us.
If you believe there was another way to get this rather rare indictment of a murdering cop started, now is the time to suggest it. While you peck away at your keyboard those people are out making things happen.
lincolnman
I'm glad to see the Trump supporters here condemn the police officers involved, but I wish they'd go a step further and acknowledge the hate speech emanating from their President over the past four years has escalated racial tensions and emboldened the sick white supremacists in our society who commit these crimes. This officer is not "very fine people"...
David Duke said it clearly in 2017; “We are determined to take our country back,” Duke said from the rally, calling it a “turning point.” “We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back.”
It's going back alright - right to the era of the Confederate flag...
https://www.michiganadvance.com/2020/04/15/whitmer-stay-home-order-protest-turns-into-trump-celebration-with-confederate-flags-and-guns/
Dr Maybe
This is what happens when you have a racist in the White House, talking about fine people on both sides (Charlottesville), dog whistling fellow racists with guns and badges to "go for it", as it were. A racist without a clue, trying to distract from his disastrous regime, his incompetent non-handling of the Covid 19 crisis, by mouthing off about China. What a pitiful state the U.S. is in. Pitiful!! If he is not kicked out at the next election, you KNOW democracy has definitively been snuffed out (by censorship, voter suppression etc.) in the so-called beacon of democracy. Shame on you Trump apologists!
The Avenger
I am in shock that an American reporter on American soil was arrested. What is happening to our country?
HonestDictator
I think it all sums up to this on all aspects of American society:
https://ideapod.com/15-clear-signs-youre-suffering-from-self-entitlement/
Not completely true, I've had my experiences with the local police in my city and while some were bad (I can probably only name 2 in my entire lifetime), in general as long as one wasn't acting like a fool and doing something stupid, you had nothing to worry about. It also depends on county/state/country though.
I'm more worried about having to deal with my "fellow" Americans than I do with those who are expected to uphold my rights and are required to take an oath to do so.
I run into enough self entitled "fellow" Americans that don't have a badge than any that do. I'm on such good terms with law enforcement here, they ask me what happened instead of, "what are you doing?"
NCIS Reruns
Since the invention of cell phone cameras, practically every evil in the world has been exposed.
half-hearted jumper
The white guy from the same broadcaster a few meters away wasn't arrested. Go figure.
Your experiences don't invalidate those of others. And you'd have to be blind to not realise there's a problem in the US with regards to how minorities are treated by the police, in particular: black men.
Toasted Heretic
It needs to be dismantled, like the former Soviet Union. And then it must learn the lessons of that break up and not fall into a breeding ground for oligarchs and gangsterism. Hmmm, it kind of is, currently.
A smaller more containable USA (and Russia and China) is preferrable to the super power situation which propels the capitalist narrative to its inevitable conclusion - the workers set against each other, rather than their shameless masters.
But, oddly, the elite seem hell-bent on assuring their own downfall. Everything is short-term with them. Especially the lives of the ordinary people, especially black people.
Certainly the police force is rife with racists, opportunists and chancers. It needs disbanding, then rebuilding like the RUC was in NI.
lincolnman
Condoned. Though I would suggest that the link between the violence and some far-right undercover instigators be investigated.
And which Trump's supporters will continually try to deny, even though it's there in black and white...
Hmmmmm....nothing about David Duke...tacit support I guess...
Sure, the Trump supporter holding the Confederate flag and the Trump 2020 banner is a Dem, right?
https://www.michiganadvance.com/2020/04/15/whitmer-stay-home-order-protest-turns-into-trump-celebration-with-confederate-flags-and-guns/
Toasted Heretic
It was an heroic act of defiance.
The war on black lives has been waged for centuries. What is it some of our right wing contributors say?
Oh yes, you reap what you sow.
lincolnman
Ask them...
As I said, continue to deny..."you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides."
Uh, no - I saw his AR-15, Confederate flag and Trump 2020 Banner - do you think he's a Democrat? Maybe all of them were Democrats, right?
Hiro S Nobumasa
The UK, Australia, France and Germany must ask the UN to convene an emergency session to condemn the killings of African Americans by the police in MN and other parts of the USA.
Moreover the WHO must prepare for a second tidal wave of COVID-19 arising from the widespread riots without masks and social distancing in the entire USA!
Never mind what Trump did! The WHO must still help the American people!
lincolnman
You asked the question; "Democrats?" So, ask them....
Yep, both sides, white supremacists and Antifa - so there's "very fine people" in both those groups? Point proven.
Sure, all those armed, Trump supporters holding confederate flags and Trump 2020 banners are Democrat "Libs" who are for gun control and Obamacare. Thanks for the joke...
u_s__reamer
I am in shock that an American reporter on American soil was arrested. What is happening to our country?
Why shock? He's "black". White policeman murders a black citizen on camera. No shock there, either, since we've seen it countless times before. The shocking point is that he only gets a third-degree murder charge despite his egregious act of violence. He was only charged at all because the crime was captured on video and for the political necessity of throwing a sop to the outraged public rioting in the streets. As long as Amerika continues to give cops "a license to kill" minorities and the poor with little fear of retribution power-drunk cops like their poster-boy in Minneapolis will never be reined in. This is the truth that should shock all Americans dreaming of "the city on a hill", yet still living with "Jim Crow" in their hearts.
Serrano
There are three more officers that need to be charged as soon as possible. They are accessories to murder as well.
Especially Tou Thao who was standing right next to him watching the whole time.
The Avenger
I suspect the nonchalant and disrespectful attitude of the officers who killed Floyd reflected the attitude of their department. They clearly did not fear consequences of their behavior, which attests to how much they and their fellow officers get away with on a daily basis. These aren't rogue cops. Cops who kill are never rogue cops. They are representative of our police culture.
Fighto!
How about Japan? They also must condemn the US police behaviour in the strongest possible way.
I have just seen footage in of police in NY pushing an unarmed small black woman to the ground. She was injured, and is now in ER. (Footage is on Twitter). It is lucky that protesters are so far showing incredible restraint against these coward thug cops.
Hopefully cops all over the US are going to be taught a big lesson in the coming hours and days, and the protesters push back at them with everything at their disposal. Power to the protesters!
HonestDictator
It's about time they charged the former officer with murder. It was pretty obvious.
Trump as expected showed exactly how much of a wanna be dictator he thinks he can be with his tweet (which also violated Twitters TOS and EULA.
For the Trump culters that posts here, I want to remind you what I said about "A military of a country is meant to protect it's people. If a so called leader or government attempts to use the military against it's own people, they're not good leaders, but tyrants and dictators...."
Trump is the type of person that doesn't recall the importance of the Kent State incident and how it affected what kind of country we chose to be. Hint: We didn't want to be like China's CCP or the USSR...
I don't condone the looters and rioters (they violated the rights of other American citizens that were not involved), but with the COVID lock down and this situation popping, people wanted to use it as an excuse to outlet their stress and anger.
bass4funk
As I knew the officer would be charged. A lot of people said he wasn’t going to be and it was obvious he was and the others involved as well, it took awhile, but we are finally here and good on Ellison to make sure that happened. But now people need to calm down, stop looting and rioting and stop making excuses for bad conduct.
I wholeheartedly agree.
Fighto!
How about arresting the other 3 scum police that were at the scene? Absolute lowlives. I have seen footage of dozens of police cars fleeing their police station like cowards, as the protesters encircled them. Not so tough when they are outnumbered.
I stand with the protesters. Go after the Minnesota police and teach them a lesson!
DaDude
This is why I vote Independent while everyone else here and in the U.S. follows 2 parties(Republican and Democrat) like sheep. One party calls victims "thug" and should be shot. The other Democrat(governor of Minnesota and mayor of Minneapolis) does nothing either and takes days to speak out, let everyone destroy the entire neighborhood and endanger lives. They are using this and thinking of strategies to win votes for the upcoming election instead of anybody doing anything.
u_s__reamer
Ok, so don’t condone bad behavior and let anarchy and subvert the rule of law and thuggish behavior rule.
The best refutation of the above platitude is Trevor Noah's latest Youtube comment on the "broken contract" that led to the outburst of anger and rioting, summed up in his words, "Police in America are looting black bodies" (every day).
The worst comments come from Mississippi mayor, Hal Marx: "if you can talk, you can breathe". “Why in the world would anyone choose to become a PoliceOfficer in our society today?” "If you are talking about the incident in MN, I didn’t see anything unreasonable. If you can say you can't breathe, you’re breathing. Most likely that man died of overdose or heart attack," with no evidence. He also said that the police involved were being "crucified."
The murdered black activist, Malcolm X, knew exactly what those rioters were feeling: " That's not a chip on my shoulder. That's your foot on my neck"
SimondB
Over 100,000 dead from Covid and rising.
40 million people out of work.
White police murdering black suspects.
It's going to be long, hot and dangerous summer.
sunfunbun
I'm glad they finally charged the police officer and agree that the others should be charged.
Yep, whether it's police or people, there are good who abhor racism and show love and respect while there are others who treat others poorly, rudely and show racist tendencies. America is a mixed bag and each person and place should be openly looked at, before judgment.
Often how people treat others reflect upon themselves. I have a feeling you're a nice person and get that kindness returned to you.
Artemis Rogers
So we don't even have the freedom to do something stupid now? The only people not doing something stupid during a typical day already don't have a pulse. Nobody is perfect. And American cops will call anything you do stupid, including reaching for your wallet when they demand you show ID.
Anyway Botham Jean, Christopher Roupe, Rekia Boyd, Amadou Diallo, Aiyana Jones, Justine Damond, Atatiana Jefferson, and Breonna Taylor are but a handful of %100 innocent people doing nothing at all who would tell you that simply existing is an easy way to get killed by America cops.
As for George Floyd, cops were called about the use of a counterfeit $20 bill. I was given one by my father accidentally and I might have used it myself if my now ex-wife did not notice the paper seemed too thick. So we may be talking about a completely innocent man here. Police claimed he "appeared to be under the influence" which is obviously just something they say as an excuse to accost anyone who may have so much as an itchy nose.
Strangerland
The George Floyd case shows how white women like Central Park Karen don't realize that when they call the police in America and make up a lie about being threatened by a black person, they are risking that person's life.
When you're white in the US and the police are talking to you, you may be in fear for your freedom. When your black in the US and the police are talking to you, you fear for your life.
Artemis Rogers
Nonsense. It took violent protest to effect the charge. The lack of violent protest is why the cop who murdered Eric Garner, Daniel Pantaleo, was never charged. People protested peacefully then, so nothing. The only way there is going to be justice here is if the people up the ante on cop violence.
David
I am so sad, and angry about so many things happening in America these days. But I am so grateful, and relieved that I left that country 20 years ago. Hopefully things can start to turn this November.
Hiro S Nobumasa
What happened in MN will be repeated again in other states when the police force harbors racists armored in uniforms.
Media that babysits da-kine subtle racism in its ranks are also a spark that can easily turn peace into a bonfire wherein racists will multiply and thrive .
Seth Majer
From interviews I am watching with people from the neighborhood in and around Lake Street, many upon many are upset about the outcome. The barbershops, supermarkets, gas stations, clothing spots, liquor stores, laundromats, library, bars, shoe stores, etc that they frequented their whole lives have been destroyed or burned to a crisp. Many were pillars of the community and Black-owned. Some even put up signs on the windows that said "Black-owned" which didn't faze anyone. People could just walk over due to the convenience and now many mentioned that they have to drive for miles just to buy food for live. Might I mention there were many out of state license plates. One guy said in the shoe shop they were looting, he chatted with people driving in from Chicago and other States.
As we destroy our own communities, the powers that be are watching at home laughing in the safety of their own abodes. Most of these businesses will never reopen because Covid had already most of them skating in thin ice. The revolution could have been taken to the rich part of town, then people would care and make a swift change. Did you notice the police and national guard weren't deployed for 2 days after most of the community was gone? The powers that be did nothing and said naw, just let them do what they want.
Age of Asparagus
@SimondB
Having a good wank to all the danger-porn?
Can you see me flipping you the bird in your crystal ball?
bass4funk
Not me, you are the one questioning and making the accusation
if you’re born in the South, that’s your culture, where was Carter born again?
Some
Ask Harry Reid.
bass4funk
Now you’re making stupid excuses for bad behavior of thugs.
You can’t say that because the circumstances and demographics were totally different.
Ok, so don’t condone bad behavior and let anarchy and subvert the rule of law and thuggish behavior rule.
TheLongTermer
If I was filming the Floyd incident, out of just personal conviction, and I heard the man say "I cant breath", I would of immediately notified another cop and called 911. Thats just who I am. I dont know the circumstances at the event but not clear why that wasnt done.
These kind of tyrants are everywhere, Dem Repub or no affliation. I know it when I see it.
Artemis Rogers
Primarily because it gets a response from the people. When the victim is White everyone shrugs, even most of the White people. But when the victim is Black, Black people pay attention and call attention and then even White people start to notice. The press has not been charged with your education. They are a business that profits from attention.
That said the "race" narrative is often a mistake. Its actually the difference between the many White and Black cultures that is the core problem. Common Black culture lingo and other norms are often interpreted as disrespect by self important White bullies in blue uniforms who don't even deserve respect in the first place. But that said, continued and real racism is often built on that foundation of culture difference as dumb people assume "all people of race X are like this".
But yes, there have been many White people murdered by cops who should have also gotten a funeral riot. But since White people could not be bothered so neither could Black people. Black people are paying attention and that is why we have BLM and there is no WLM.
bass4funk
I wish liberals would condone the uprising of the looters in the thuggish rioters, now these opportunities are attacking the CNN building and some of them in LA have started to shoot small fire arms.
Which he did not say and which liberals have completely edited that entire context, fully and totally dishonest.
When you have black store owners writing “this is a black owned store”, that is inciting racial tension, which is codeword for you may attack other stores but I am black just as you, so please don’t attack mine
That Democrats founded.
bass4funk
Democrats?
Not deny, here is the full context: Those people – all of those people, excuse me – I've condemned neo-Nazis. I've condemned many different groups, but not all of those people were neo-Nazis, “Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.”
Did you talk to him?
WilliB
From the video I have seen that would have been murder regardless of the race of the victim. Why does the media turn every story where the victim is black into a "race" narrative? They never do that when the victim is white.
TheLongTermer
It has nothing to do with Trump. I was in the military during the Rodney King situation and many military folks were posted in LA, the same riot and war type zone environment you see here. This has been going on for decades now. Like everything, there is always an untold, underlying story. Social media is more developed now but its the same thing.
To readers not from the US, Minn. is actually a very nice place. Brutal winters and the folks talk a bit different but I really like it there. Dont let people not from the US or haters influence your view of how it is everywhere.
TheLongTermer
Interesting how the mayor and others distanced themselves from the event, but after the town went up in smoke, time to reclaim and bring in the guard.
So, people who were not involved, like private citizens whos business were burned...help me make the connection..they are just collateral damage?
Im trying to find something heroic about that.
bass4funk
And the thugs that caused this unrest will definitely reap what they sow.
bass4funk
You made the accusation.
As you deny he said both sides where he included Antifa.
How would I know. Harry Reid is a fun and NRA supporter so it’s possible.
bass4funk
But that will never happen, next?
again that will never happen, unless you support a government like Somalia.
And as long as blacks continue to support liberal policies and support the same politicians that won’t change
In truth you have recess on both sides do you have black racist police officers any of white racist police officers
TheLongTermer
Im not. I watched the whole event. What was amazing is that the MSM never misses an opportunity to link everything to racism, and suddenly the tragedy that happened to Mr. Floyd was side tracked, and it became all about them, suggesting it was racism. I was trying to get facts about the precinct building burning and the event but the whole coverage was about some reporter who got arrested. Who cares.
They were at ground zero, and the officers precinct building just destroyed; an act of domestic terrorism or war. They should of cleared it with the police chief before being there.
Good news the tyrant cop is being charged with murder. I want to know more about that, instead of what happens to reporters who arent cleared in a war zone.
Benjamin Weinmann
Kinda funny to me. People so outraged over what happened to this man, that they decide the best way to react is to loot a Target and burn it down. And the same people could give no cares when black people kill other black people in record numbers.
WilliB
strangerland:
Do you have figures to back that up, or are you just repeating the race-baiting touted by the "mainstream" media?
bass4funk
No, we really don’t.