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A Cop-out By Police Chief For Failing to Arrest George Floyd's Killers
Townhall.com ^ | June 3, 2020 | Paul Kamenar

Posted on 06/03/2020 10:36:59 AM PDT by Kaslin

In the midst of the rioting following the killing of George Floyd by Officer Derek Chauvin, the Mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey, asked himself the rhetorical question at a press conference last week: “Why is the officer who killed George Floyd, not in jail right now? I can’t answer that question.” The answer is simple as he well knows. His police chief, Medaria Arradondo, decided not to arrest Chauvin on any number of charges, ranging from felony assault and manslaughter to murder.

Had he promptly done so at the time he fired Chauvin and the other three officers who assisted him, the community, as well as his fellow officers on the force, would have seen that law enforcement was being responsive and the rioting might have been minimized.

The subsequent complaint against Chauvin filed by the Hennepin County Prosecutor for manslaughter and third-degree murder would have superseded the initial charges of any arrest. There was no excuse for delaying the arrest of Chauvin. After all, Mr. Floyd, before he was killed, was arrested on mere suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill, a petty non-violent offense. Here, we have videotapes and eyewitnesses to a brutal assault, torture, and homicide.

Mr. Floyd was handcuffed behind his back and placed face down on the street while Chauvin pressed his knee down on the back of Mr. Floyd’s neck for over eight minutes. Mr. Floyd repeatedly begged his torturer, “I can’t breathe.” Instead of releasing his knee, Chauvin kept on pressing it down, sadistically ordering Mr. Floyd to do the impossible, “Get up and get in the car, man.” Mr. Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe. I can’t move.” With his knee pressing on Mr. Floyd’s neck, Chauvin repeated two more times, “Get up and get in the car.”

Mr. Floyd pleaded with Chauvin 16 times that he couldn’t breathe, even calling out to his mother for help who died two years earlier as life drained from his body. Bystanders pleaded with Chauvin and the other three officers to stop and to roll him over since it appeared that he had stopped breathing. Those pleas were ignored.

Mr. Chauvin continued to press his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck with one hand in his pocket and casually looking away from his dying victim. Only after paramedics arrived and told Chauvin to release his knee did he do so. The ambulance became Mr. Floyd’s hearse.

So, what about the fate of the other three officers? Charges may be filed soon by the county prosecutor, but why no arrest by the police or better yet, by Chief Arradondo himself, in the interim as the Floyd family and the public have been demanding to know? The non-answer given by Arrandondo live on CNN to the Floyd family via a reporter who relayed the question to the chief was literally a cop-out.

First, it is appalling that this was the first time the chief had even engaged the Floyd family since the killing a week ago, and only by happenstance via the reporter. Officers under his command murdered their brother and he did not have the decency to pick up the phone to express his condolences to the family and vow to bring the officers to justice?

Second, the chief dodged the question as to why these officers have not yet been not arrested, but did concede that they were “complicit.” In legal parlance, that’s aiding and abetting the killing. The response by Mr. Floyd’s brother, Philonise Floyd, to this non-answer was spot on: “They have enough to fire them, they have enough evidence to arrest them. I don’t know who he is talking to but I need him to do it, because we all are listening.”

Hopefully, the other three officers will soon be charged by the county prosecutor and justice will be done. But the additional pain caused by the delay in their arrests—and Chauvin’s—was preventable.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Minnesota
KEYWORDS: derekchauvin; georgefloyd; leo; minneapolis; police

1 posted on 06/03/2020 10:36:59 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
The problem is that if they arrest them without specific charges, they'll have to release them very quickly. And then you'd have everyone even more pissed off that they were released.

And no, none of that reasoning applies to the firing, which is why he could do that right away.

2 posted on 06/03/2020 10:39:25 AM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: Kaslin

Hopefully, the other three officers will soon be charged by the county prosecutor”

On what charge? I can see firing them but is what did or did not do actually a chargeable offense?


3 posted on 06/03/2020 10:40:13 AM PDT by gibsonguy
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To: Kaslin

The arrests only happened after the video was made public. The same thing happened with the Ahmaud Arbery case.


4 posted on 06/03/2020 10:41:03 AM PDT by FewsOrange
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To: Kaslin

Trial by video and the mob. That is American jurisprudence?


5 posted on 06/03/2020 10:42:56 AM PDT by Altura Ct. (uNACA)
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To: Kaslin

I have been watching and reading about the multiple incidents of violence and looting across America since the death of George Floyd and I think I have idenitifed the common denominator for all the racism in America.

Racism is systemic in large metropolitan areas of the USA where demoKKKrats have been in power for decades. BLM should be protesting their own demoKKKrat leadership in their cities and states.


6 posted on 06/03/2020 10:44:36 AM PDT by Perseverando (Liberals, Progressives, Islamonazis, Statists, Commies, DemoKKKrats: It's a Godlessness disorder.)
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To: Kaslin

Did the Mayor and Police Chief deliberately delay arrest as part of a larger plan to exploit the event?


7 posted on 06/03/2020 10:45:31 AM PDT by \/\/ayne (I regret that I have but one subscription cancellation notice to give to my local newspaper.)
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To: gibsonguy

They were restraining Floyd together even after he became unresponsive. One had Floyd’s legs, another his back. It was a group enterprise, and any one of them could and should have stopped it.

As to physical responsibility, you can kill someone by putting weight on their chest cavity and preventing expansion and breathing. How much weight on Floyd’s back?


8 posted on 06/03/2020 10:50:27 AM PDT by heartwood (Someone has to play devil's advocate other.)
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To: Altura Ct.
Trial by video

No, arrest because of video. Video is one of the surest ways of ensuring that the police can't cover anything up, and one of the surest ways to ensure that good cops don't face false accusations - that's why all officers should wear body cams.
9 posted on 06/03/2020 10:54:50 AM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: FewsOrange
That's just ridiculous. The two cases are nothing alike.

George Floyd was killed on 9:25 p.m. on Monday, May 25th. The first cell phone video was posted overnight, and the officers were fired at 3 p.m. the next day, after that video was reviewed, statements were taken, and the security camera footage was reviewed. Unlike the Arbery case, the police first learned of what the video saw as the exact same time as the public. Implying that there was something wrong in not firing those officers until after the saw that video absurd. There wasn't an opportunity to fire them because that. Unless you're claiming that they should have been fired before the department had itself even seen any of the videos, security camera footage, or taken statements.

In Arbery's case, the cops and prosecutors had already seen the videos themselves, months before, and declined to prosecute. It was the making the video available to the public that tipped the scales in that case.

Completely different situations.

10 posted on 06/03/2020 10:55:59 AM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: FewsOrange

The videos were public the very next day.


11 posted on 06/03/2020 11:01:28 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: Kaslin

The charges were filed once the medical examiners report was issued which is standard practice in cases like this.


12 posted on 06/03/2020 11:02:41 AM PDT by circlecity
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To: heartwood; All

Yes, and the sad reality is that had Floyd been a white guy, we’d have never heard about this. It’s only because he was a black man that it went viral. It would be interesting to know of all the previous complaints again Chauvin. Were they race-related? Did he have a history of targeting minorities? The fact they subdued, held down Mr. Floyd may have had nothing to do with him being black. But then, it may have all been because he was black. The only reason this has risen to the level it has is because of race involved. Otherwise, we’d have never known. Even if it went viral, there would not have been the reaction had Mr. Floyd been white.


13 posted on 06/03/2020 11:41:30 AM PDT by nfldgirl
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To: Altura Ct.
Trial by video and the mob. That is American jurisprudence?

Seems that way, especially here on FR.

14 posted on 06/03/2020 12:04:53 PM PDT by Lion Den Dan
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To: Kaslin; All

TIME TO GET THE FACTS OUT THERE
Responding to Freeper NKP Vet comment’s on FR posting calling Floyd a “hero”
“He was not saint and this bullshit narrative needs to end. I also think there’s a hell of a lot more to his death that we’re being told.” I suggested That includes a bad relationship that remains undisclosed both had while employed as bar bouncers.
Check out
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3850368/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3850910/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3851100/posts


15 posted on 06/03/2020 1:22:26 PM PDT by mosesdapoet (mosesdapoet aka L.J.Keslin posting here for the record hoping somebody might read and pass around)
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To: Kaslin

Here in California they have a 72 hour grace period so they can contact their union rep before they can be arrested.


16 posted on 06/03/2020 1:42:54 PM PDT by eyeamok
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To: eyeamok

In CA, after they are convicted of the felony, the Governor will then liberate the felons from prison so they can vote and protest.


17 posted on 06/03/2020 1:46:58 PM PDT by Cvengr ( Adversity in life & death is inevitable; Stress is optional through faith in Christ.)
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