George Floyd Was NOT Murdered, and the Neck Hold was NOT Illegal

May 30, 2020 6:03pm

It seems everyone is saying that the neck hold Officer Chauvin used against George Floyd was illegal, against police policy, and is not practiced or taught by any police department in the country. Upon what do they base that?

Just like almost every other belief people hold about current events that isn't true, it's because they've blindly accepted whatever nonsense the dishonest activists posing as journalists in the so-called "news" media have spoon-fed them. They haven't done anything to verify the information. Instead, they just regurgitate the false, agenda-driven propaganda of Big Media.

Well, I don't. Ronald Reagan said, "trust but verify." He was referring to the Soviets. But I have less faith in the truthfulness of today's media than I did of the Soviet Union in the 1980s. I don't trust the media at all. I do, however, verify their claims.

And what did I find in the course of confirming the veracity of their claims? It's no surprise. The information from Big Media was wrong!

The Minneapolis Police Department's Policy & Procedure Manual DOES authorize the use of knee-on-the-neck holds against a subject who is actively resisting. This restraint technique is authorized only for sworn employees who have received training from the MPD Training Unit. I could not discover whether Derek Chauvin received such training, but as a 19 year veteran, he probably has.

Trust but verify, right? So don't take my word for it, see for yourself in Section 5-311 of the Minneapolis Police Department's Policy & Procedure Manual. It is online at http://www.minneapolismn.gov/police/policy/mpdpolicy_5-300_5-300

Am I excusing Officer Chauvin's actions? Not at all. I am appalled that he held Floyd in a neck hold for almost eight minutes, including nearly two minutes after he stopped breathing. By any reasonable definition, that is excessive force. And Chauvin must be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

But the facts of the case don't support a murder charge of ANY degree. Manslaughter? Maybe. Murder? No way. In law, there are more than 50 shades of grey. Not all actions that result in the death of a human constitute murder. I think Officer Chauvin acted inappropriately; and probably unlawfully. But it wasn't murder.

If prosecutors overcharge to appease the mob, it will only guarantee future violence when the officer gets acquitted. Chauvin needs to be charged and convicted for the crime he committed NOT the crime the mob demands.

But even a manslaughter conviction might be difficult to obtain. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's preliminary autopsy report found no physical evidence to indicate the cause of death was asphyxiation, strangulation, or anything else directly related to the type of restraint used by Chauvin against Floyd. Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease.

One of the policemen on the scene, Thomas Lane, expressed concern while Floyd was in the neck hold that Floyd may have been experiencing Excited Delirium. I was not familiar with Excited Delerium, so I looked it up at the U.S. National Institutes of Health's National Library of Medicine. It is a condition in which a person's behavior is characterized by agitation, aggression, acute distress and sudden death. "It is typically associated with the use of drugs that alter dopamine processing, hyperthermia, and, most notably, sometimes with death of the affected person in the custody of law enforcement. Subjects typically die from cardiopulmonary arrest, although the cause is debated." You can learn more about the condition through the same source I did at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3088378

The irresponsible media has failed to adequately describe the circumstances that lead to Mr. Floyd being put into the neck hold. So I have looked into it myself. The Statement of Probable Cause for the arrest of Officer Chauvin gives far more detail of what happened that day than the media is reporting. And that detail paints quite a different picture than the cell phone video does. Floyd actively resisted arrest and aggressively refused to be placed into the police car. It should be noted that this description of events is based upon footage from the police body cameras not the testimony of law enforcement officers.

Again, trust but verify. Read what the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's preliminary autopsy report said, and read the Statement of Probable Cause. It's online at https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6933246/Derek-Chauvin-Complaint.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2NRvIZVMKoYdp2313PUcIbOh4nFpU7iv2nLSyUhe-vO_weagfAWneDufA

I'm not saying George Floyd's death was justified. It wasn't. But the narrative surrounding it was created to inflame not to inform.

And that brings me to the protests.

The problem with the protests over the death of George Floyd, beyond their unlawful violence, is that they are based on a false premise. George Floyd was killed because of “police violence.” That is NOT the same as "racist violence." I am angry that a police officer "killed a man" not that he "killed a black man." Skin color is irrelevant. We are all humans.

The protests should focus on the militarization of police and their frequent use of excessive force - which is common against people of every color. There is no reason to believe George Floyd was killed because of his skin color. He was killed because the cop was an asshole.

But Democrats never miss an opportunity to foment racial discord. When will Democrats start judging people not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character? Never. Because playing the race card buys them votes. And with this being an election year, the Democrats and the media - but I repeat myself - are blaming Donald Trump. I don't see how a Republican President of the United States is responsible for the actions of a police officer in a heavily Democrat city (which by the way, is in Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's district), in a heavily Democrat state, where the mayor, police chief - and perhaps even Officer Chauvin himself - plus 12 of the 13 members of the city council are Democrats (the only non-Democrat on the city council is Green Party). The politicization of this terrible incident is disgraceful.

And it is also disgraceful that what should be peaceful protests have become violent with looting, arson, and murder. We have the right to PEACEABLY ASSEMBLE. When protesters get violent and commit arson, they must be stopped by any means necessary.

Contrary to the popular narrative, the tragic death of George Floyd is NOT proof that America is a racist nation. It is proof that we need to demand that the police “Protect & Serve” not “Dominate & Kill.” And we need to also demand that the media quit lying in their deliberate effort to divide us.

UPDATE at 8:08pm on 6/1/2020:

Today, the Hennepin County Medical Examiner officially concluded that the cause of Mr. Floyd's death was "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restraint, and neck compression."

This finding should make it easier to convict Officer Chauvin of a crime. But I still don't think it will be a murder conviction. We'll know in 2022.

Because I prefer to go by facts that have not been filtered by the dishonest press, I read the actual report that was released by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

If you wish to read it, it's online at https://content.govdelivery.com/attachments/MNHENNE/2020/06/01/file_attachments/1464238/2020-3700%20Floyd,%20George%20Perry%20Update%206.1.2020.pdf

UPDATE at 4:28pm on 6/3/2020:

Today, charges against Officer Derek Chauvin were upgraded to second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter. The other three officers (Tou Thao, Thomas Lane, and Alexander Kueng) were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.