Update: The MN AG, who once was the deputy head of the DNC, was put in charge of the Floyd investigation and had an update on the charges. He now announced there is evidence warranting a second degree murder charge (if so, fine enough) and charges for the other officers. As referenced here, the local investigation at first had issues. A basic necessity is a quick and careful process, one that if done here might have led to a different reaction. An important factor here is a more above the fray person in charge. Early charges that can be changed/removed later also is possible. It all is a reminder of how far we have to go that in 2020, over a half-century since the height of the civil rights movement, we are still here with so much more to do.
There are reports NYC is ten days away from the first step of "re-opening" (though this still includes various limits, including masks and from what I can tell no regular restaurant service -- for me personally, it won't change too much. This is far from "normal" and there is a lot of lack of clarity and possibility of much more death and suffering in these times.
The focus of the nation now is one particular death, one made only more symbolic as new details come out. For instance, reports are that the police officer and arrestee (one fired and then arrested; the other dead) worked as security in the same club. George Floyd, dead by being knelt on the neck for eight minutes, had an up/down life but was recently was a security guard who lost his job ... well, you know why. He was arrested for allegedly passing a bad $20 and accused of "resisting arrest."
This was on Monday evening, and as these things do, was filmed by observers (a recent event when a bird watcher asked a white woman to leash her dog in an area especially for birds was as well; turns out the guy she called the police on, emphasizing a black man was hassling her, was Chris Cooper of Gay USA!). The next day the officers involved were put on leave (this being in Minneapolis) and then fired. So, it is not like "black lives had no meaning." Firing police officers isn't a minor thing. The mayor supported the move. Both local and federal authorities started to investigate. But, George Floyd is still dead.
(A lawyer I follow on Twitter argues that if some average person did what was done here, killed a man and it was on tape, the person would have been arrested the next day. Probable cause to arrest. Arrest, no protests. I simply don't know, and yes, some people are treated differently here. He was fired almost immediately. I get that isn't enough. But, this whole thing is a matter of days. Arrest of a police officer, even of the average person, is not just some mild discretionary act. The case below is telling in that regard.)
In March, a twenty-something black woman (Breonna Taylor) was killed during a no knock raid related to a drug investigation. Various developments, including the announced resignation of the police chief and release from detention of her boyfriend because of corona virus concerns have occurred since then. Taylor's house alleged received illegal drugs. She herself was an emergency medical technician. and once worked for Louisville, Kentucky, which is where the shooting took place. This Twitter feed, from a journalist who had rubber bullets shot near her at one point, provides some reports and video of the protests yesterday.
There has been various protests, including in my city, largely focused on the George Floyd case but clearly he is but a representative of a wider problem. There was a statement by a union that city bus drivers would not assist with transporting arrested protesters. The mayor was criticized for not doing more to address excesses by police on the ground, one more example of criticism of him in recent months. I have little direct cause to find fault with the guy really but the evidence it is time for a change is increasing. It also seems that the protests are a sort of release from a nation partially under lockdown ("partially" since the limits are in no way akin to actual lockdown; the DOJ choosing last night to announce -- in caps on Twitter -- this lawsuit because of alleged overreaching involving car washes and such is moronic). There are also reports that it is being used by third parties for disreputable anarchist and disorder reasons.
I am a white guy from a middle class area where there is nearly no police presence. So, I know my lane. Don't find the protests and rioting shocking really but there is a mixture of things here. Don't find looting Target or setting fire to McDonalds a sane approach here, even if we can in some wider sense see it as a response to society's basic violation of basic responsibilities. Take to the streets. Block traffic. I can even see (though rooting for police stations to be burned since you know -- okay, privileged white professor type -- cops are just all fascists anyway -- is to me sort of an asshole move) targeting police cars or whatever. Very wary of that shit, but that is logical reaction. A Target? Burning McDonalds, and probably hurting members of the community who work there? OTOH, talking "logical" is probably also a bit misguided too. Levels though. Levels.
Various snapshots. Those rubber bullets. A camera crew being arrested, after the reporter calmly started to report in a way that if anything made the police on the scene seem organized. They were let go within a few hours, the charge being that they were asked to move and refused. A white woman police chief (another fascist cop, I assume) in Georgia calmly listening to protesters and reassuring them she understands and agrees Floyd was not how police should operate. Note she isn't wearing a mask. Mixed bag there, looking at the photos. A final thing is that there was a thing where various people referenced the Boston Tea Party, since that too was a "riot" and involved a lot of property damage. Yes, a lot of property was destroyed, but it wasn't a riot. They had riots back then. They tar and feathered people. They broke into the homes and looted government officials. But, the Boston Tea Party was an organized act of protest, led by people of fairly high standing. It was not akin to looting a Target.
George Floyd's killer was arrested, charged with third degree murder (lack of premeditation; the work connection is curious, but beyond reasonable doubt proof available? doubtful) and manslaughter (lack of depraved mind). He had a record of excessive force violations, including one that came near the end of Amy Klobuchar's term as prosecutor. Some flagged this and how she did not bring a prosecution in this and other cases. But, it is not like she did nothing. She carried out a far from atypical policy of sending things to the grand jury, which here did not indict. She later said she changed her mind on that policy, showing that things have changed over the last 15 years on race as much as #MeToo.
Joe Biden provided an empathetic statement for George Floyd and how we have a responsibility to address racism and police overreaching. He does that well. One hopes we shall see him in action. Trump responded to the protesters as "thugs," tossed in a partisan attack and used a 1960s dogwhistle. The Obama Justice Department had multiple reviews and consent agreements arising from police overreaching. The Trump/Sessions Department went another way. As with criminal justice matters generally, some were upset Obama did not go further. I found that a tad unrealistic but let's not (like the Sentencing Law and Policy Blog guy) lose perspective on the differences between the two administrations.
(Note the first link there speaks of Twitter flagging Trump's tweets, a follow-up from an action regarding him promoting some conspiracy theory involving the long ago death of a congressional employee of "Morning Joe" leading to action too. This pissed off Trump and he responded with an executive order that is largely bluster bs, but as noted there, still is problematic. As I underline in a comment, AG Barr being there as it was announced shows the taint in the Justice Department. Multiple people also flagged him defaming Rep. Adam Schiff by name there. Not in a tweet. In an official executive order.)
We continue along in our tainted ways. A man dies because police use excessive force while arresting him for allegedly passing a $20. It is unclear why such a person was not just given a ticket and told he had to show up for an appearance. The talk of resisting arrest appears to be dubious. A medical tech dies in a drug raid where at best allegedly there were drugs present; it wasn't as if drugs were being allegedly sold there from my reading. The abuses in such raids have been detailed for years. New York still has not decriminalized marijuana. "Defund the police." Yeah right. We will have crimes. We will have arrests. But, there is a way to limit the damage. I still wonder about the citizen militia concept, using members of the community while arresting people etc. Handling protesters and reporters respectably also is possible, and as noted, many did. Also, some of the mishandling of the press came from civilians.
This essay regarding letting felons vote -- to the degree we should keep a mark of Cain on people after they serve their time -- is germane here too. I have been keeping track of this issue for at least twenty years, felony disenfranchisement, including mistakenly depriving people of their right to vote, factoring into the mess in Florida. Significant progress, including in Florida, has occurred in this area. We even had a major presidential candidate say even convicted people in prison should vote -- something done nearly nowhere in the U.S. now. The problem lingers with special wealth and race implications that to me makes it unconstitutional as a whole as well as lousy policy. A few tragic cases of people mistakenly voting and getting prosecuted only is a small part of it.
The protests continue. It is likely the case we should had more, including in response to Trump. One loses track; so instead of addressing George Floyd or something, he announces breaking off our relationship with the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic.
===
* Years ago, I was wrongly arrested, put in a little cage with about twenty people and needing to spend two days in court for allegedly not paying $2.75 in an outside bus kiosk -- I shoved the tiny slip in my front pocket and forgot about it ... I only checked my back pockets as four police officers stood over me & only found it after leaving ... they put handcuffs on me etc. ... nice trip to feed a relative's cat.
It's a petty thing but my little personal experience with the crudeness of the criminal justice system. When I wrote a letter about it to some criminal justice group, they weren't interested. Someone else could have lost a job for missing two days of work or something. Someone died in prison of the virus, being arrested for some petty shit. We can't "end prisons" but there is a lot of room to cut back there.
There are reports NYC is ten days away from the first step of "re-opening" (though this still includes various limits, including masks and from what I can tell no regular restaurant service -- for me personally, it won't change too much. This is far from "normal" and there is a lot of lack of clarity and possibility of much more death and suffering in these times.
The focus of the nation now is one particular death, one made only more symbolic as new details come out. For instance, reports are that the police officer and arrestee (one fired and then arrested; the other dead) worked as security in the same club. George Floyd, dead by being knelt on the neck for eight minutes, had an up/down life but was recently was a security guard who lost his job ... well, you know why. He was arrested for allegedly passing a bad $20 and accused of "resisting arrest."
This was on Monday evening, and as these things do, was filmed by observers (a recent event when a bird watcher asked a white woman to leash her dog in an area especially for birds was as well; turns out the guy she called the police on, emphasizing a black man was hassling her, was Chris Cooper of Gay USA!). The next day the officers involved were put on leave (this being in Minneapolis) and then fired. So, it is not like "black lives had no meaning." Firing police officers isn't a minor thing. The mayor supported the move. Both local and federal authorities started to investigate. But, George Floyd is still dead.
(A lawyer I follow on Twitter argues that if some average person did what was done here, killed a man and it was on tape, the person would have been arrested the next day. Probable cause to arrest. Arrest, no protests. I simply don't know, and yes, some people are treated differently here. He was fired almost immediately. I get that isn't enough. But, this whole thing is a matter of days. Arrest of a police officer, even of the average person, is not just some mild discretionary act. The case below is telling in that regard.)
In March, a twenty-something black woman (Breonna Taylor) was killed during a no knock raid related to a drug investigation. Various developments, including the announced resignation of the police chief and release from detention of her boyfriend because of corona virus concerns have occurred since then. Taylor's house alleged received illegal drugs. She herself was an emergency medical technician. and once worked for Louisville, Kentucky, which is where the shooting took place. This Twitter feed, from a journalist who had rubber bullets shot near her at one point, provides some reports and video of the protests yesterday.
There has been various protests, including in my city, largely focused on the George Floyd case but clearly he is but a representative of a wider problem. There was a statement by a union that city bus drivers would not assist with transporting arrested protesters. The mayor was criticized for not doing more to address excesses by police on the ground, one more example of criticism of him in recent months. I have little direct cause to find fault with the guy really but the evidence it is time for a change is increasing. It also seems that the protests are a sort of release from a nation partially under lockdown ("partially" since the limits are in no way akin to actual lockdown; the DOJ choosing last night to announce -- in caps on Twitter -- this lawsuit because of alleged overreaching involving car washes and such is moronic). There are also reports that it is being used by third parties for disreputable anarchist and disorder reasons.
I am a white guy from a middle class area where there is nearly no police presence. So, I know my lane. Don't find the protests and rioting shocking really but there is a mixture of things here. Don't find looting Target or setting fire to McDonalds a sane approach here, even if we can in some wider sense see it as a response to society's basic violation of basic responsibilities. Take to the streets. Block traffic. I can even see (though rooting for police stations to be burned since you know -- okay, privileged white professor type -- cops are just all fascists anyway -- is to me sort of an asshole move) targeting police cars or whatever. Very wary of that shit, but that is logical reaction. A Target? Burning McDonalds, and probably hurting members of the community who work there? OTOH, talking "logical" is probably also a bit misguided too. Levels though. Levels.
Various snapshots. Those rubber bullets. A camera crew being arrested, after the reporter calmly started to report in a way that if anything made the police on the scene seem organized. They were let go within a few hours, the charge being that they were asked to move and refused. A white woman police chief (another fascist cop, I assume) in Georgia calmly listening to protesters and reassuring them she understands and agrees Floyd was not how police should operate. Note she isn't wearing a mask. Mixed bag there, looking at the photos. A final thing is that there was a thing where various people referenced the Boston Tea Party, since that too was a "riot" and involved a lot of property damage. Yes, a lot of property was destroyed, but it wasn't a riot. They had riots back then. They tar and feathered people. They broke into the homes and looted government officials. But, the Boston Tea Party was an organized act of protest, led by people of fairly high standing. It was not akin to looting a Target.
George Floyd's killer was arrested, charged with third degree murder (lack of premeditation; the work connection is curious, but beyond reasonable doubt proof available? doubtful) and manslaughter (lack of depraved mind). He had a record of excessive force violations, including one that came near the end of Amy Klobuchar's term as prosecutor. Some flagged this and how she did not bring a prosecution in this and other cases. But, it is not like she did nothing. She carried out a far from atypical policy of sending things to the grand jury, which here did not indict. She later said she changed her mind on that policy, showing that things have changed over the last 15 years on race as much as #MeToo.
Joe Biden provided an empathetic statement for George Floyd and how we have a responsibility to address racism and police overreaching. He does that well. One hopes we shall see him in action. Trump responded to the protesters as "thugs," tossed in a partisan attack and used a 1960s dogwhistle. The Obama Justice Department had multiple reviews and consent agreements arising from police overreaching. The Trump/Sessions Department went another way. As with criminal justice matters generally, some were upset Obama did not go further. I found that a tad unrealistic but let's not (like the Sentencing Law and Policy Blog guy) lose perspective on the differences between the two administrations.
(Note the first link there speaks of Twitter flagging Trump's tweets, a follow-up from an action regarding him promoting some conspiracy theory involving the long ago death of a congressional employee of "Morning Joe" leading to action too. This pissed off Trump and he responded with an executive order that is largely bluster bs, but as noted there, still is problematic. As I underline in a comment, AG Barr being there as it was announced shows the taint in the Justice Department. Multiple people also flagged him defaming Rep. Adam Schiff by name there. Not in a tweet. In an official executive order.)
We continue along in our tainted ways. A man dies because police use excessive force while arresting him for allegedly passing a $20. It is unclear why such a person was not just given a ticket and told he had to show up for an appearance. The talk of resisting arrest appears to be dubious. A medical tech dies in a drug raid where at best allegedly there were drugs present; it wasn't as if drugs were being allegedly sold there from my reading. The abuses in such raids have been detailed for years. New York still has not decriminalized marijuana. "Defund the police." Yeah right. We will have crimes. We will have arrests. But, there is a way to limit the damage. I still wonder about the citizen militia concept, using members of the community while arresting people etc. Handling protesters and reporters respectably also is possible, and as noted, many did. Also, some of the mishandling of the press came from civilians.
This essay regarding letting felons vote -- to the degree we should keep a mark of Cain on people after they serve their time -- is germane here too. I have been keeping track of this issue for at least twenty years, felony disenfranchisement, including mistakenly depriving people of their right to vote, factoring into the mess in Florida. Significant progress, including in Florida, has occurred in this area. We even had a major presidential candidate say even convicted people in prison should vote -- something done nearly nowhere in the U.S. now. The problem lingers with special wealth and race implications that to me makes it unconstitutional as a whole as well as lousy policy. A few tragic cases of people mistakenly voting and getting prosecuted only is a small part of it.
The protests continue. It is likely the case we should had more, including in response to Trump. One loses track; so instead of addressing George Floyd or something, he announces breaking off our relationship with the World Health Organization in the midst of a pandemic.
===
* Years ago, I was wrongly arrested, put in a little cage with about twenty people and needing to spend two days in court for allegedly not paying $2.75 in an outside bus kiosk -- I shoved the tiny slip in my front pocket and forgot about it ... I only checked my back pockets as four police officers stood over me & only found it after leaving ... they put handcuffs on me etc. ... nice trip to feed a relative's cat.
It's a petty thing but my little personal experience with the crudeness of the criminal justice system. When I wrote a letter about it to some criminal justice group, they weren't interested. Someone else could have lost a job for missing two days of work or something. Someone died in prison of the virus, being arrested for some petty shit. We can't "end prisons" but there is a lot of room to cut back there.
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