Let me be crystal clear that Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin should not have kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck when the latter begged him to stop because he could not breathe. Actually, Chauvin should never have kneeled on Floyd’s neck in the first place.
Furthermore, videos of the arrest show that before the kneeling incident, Floyd was removed from his car and walked away with his hands cuffed behind his back. I do not know what happened between that time and the kneeling, but Floyd’s arrest sure looks awful lousy.
Floyd was arrested Monday night for trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill at a grocery store.
There were protests and rioting in Minneapolis Tuesday and Wednesday evening. While most protesters were peaceful, mobs clashed with the police both nights. On Wednesday, mobs set fires to an apartment building under construction and set a number of other fires, including in an Auto Zone store which they also looted along with a Target store. Outside the Target, a wheelchair-bound white woman was beaten and sprayed with a fire extinguisher when she tried to stop the looting.
A mob protesting Floyd’s death in Los Angeles closed down a freeway and surrounded two California Highway Patrol cars, smashing in the rear windows of both cars.
A peaceful protest was held Tuesday in Houston’s Emancipation Park. Floyd had lived in Houston until he moved to Minneapolis six years ago. Friends described Floyd as a good lovable person.
That good lovable person has a long criminal history in Houston dating back to 1998 when he was busted for aggravated robbery with a firearm. In 2007 Floyd committed another robbery with a firearm for which he was sent to prison. When he was released from prison in 2014, Floyd moved to Minneapolis.
Houston’s top cop could not restrain himself from getting his two cents worth in. On Wednesday Morning, Chief Acevedo tweeted: “The death of #GeorgFloyd should be condemned by all in law enforcement and our extended community. His death serves as a stark reminder that when bad policing happens, it disproportionately impacts communities of color and poor communities.” Acevedo attached a screengrab of one of his earlier tweets in which he supported Colin Kaepernick’s protest against police brutality.
But worst of all was what the white mayor of Minneapolis said about Floyd’s death. During a Thursday interview on CBS This Morning, Mayor Jacob Frey said: “He’d be alive today if he were white.” What an outrageous remark! That’s pure race baiting of the worst kind, something you would expect of Al Sharpton, but not from the mayor of a big city.
As for Chief Acevedo, he already made a complete fool out of himself with his comments on the botched Harding Street raid. He should have been sacked then. But now, Acevedo should be tarred and feathered, and run out of Houston on a rail for apparently siding with Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL quarterback who is best known for disrespecting our flag and country.
UPDATE: The Colin Kaepernick that Acevedo supports has just said it’s time for a revolution because of Floyd’s death. Today, Kaepernick tweeted: “When civility leads to death, revolting is the only logical reaction. The cries for peace will rain down, and when they do, they will land on deaf ears, because your [police] violence has brought this resistance. We have the right to fight back!”
You’re spot on here, Howie. I fully agree, and thanks for sharing a little of his criminal history. Can you post up the full history?
Let’s just hope the race hustlers planning to protest at Discovery Green tomorrow don’t act like their Minneapolis counterparts. For businesses nearby, I’d suggest hiring a lot of extra security. I’d also like to point out the same racists who will be protesting tomorrow were quieter than a church mouse when one of theirs murdered an 80 year old white woman last week, right here in Houston. I guess her life didn’t really matter after all.
As to the actual case, I’m betting money the dude was on drugs, and that was at minimum contributory to his death. Having said that, yes, I think it was at least manslaughter. Dude was on the ground, in cuffs. Whatever happened, it was over at that point. It definitely should have been over once the guy pissed himself.
Bill, I can’t give you Floyd’s full criminal history. All I can tell you is he was arrested nine times between 1997 and 2007 for six felonies and three misdemeanors, including two armed robbery arrests and four drug arrests.
It will be very interesting to see how the situation falls out. Unless there is something very odd going on it is likely that one cop will be prosecuted, if nothing else to please the mob. I wonder if the other three will be prosecuted, and if so what for. Failure to act is not usually a criminal offense. I am not familiar with Minnesota law but I am unsure they could be prosecuted legally for failure to protect a suspected criminal from another police officer.
So, I’ve read all the social media comments. I have 42 years of law enforcement experience. Starting out on patrol and retiring as a lieutenant overseeing 22 counties. Here is my two cents.
If the photographs and video of the Minneapolis police incident are what they appear to be then four officers need to be prosecuted. I’m not a D.A. but it stands to reason that if one officer commits a crime in front of three officers and they do nothing to stop it, then they all need to be prosecuted.
Each officer is sworn to protect the citizens. That includes protecting them from other police officers.
I am disappointed in the inflammatory media and people of power, like Mayor Jacob Frey, making incendiary statements. Just do your job and shut up.
These are tough jobs. Nobody in law enforcement or the military ever said the job was going to be easy. Each day brings new challenges and being able to handle arrests without incident is mandatory.
Race is being touted as the primary reason that George Floyd is dead. I don’t believe that. I saw a photograph of officer Derek Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Look closely.
It wasn’t about race. It was about control. Let’s use a rapist as an example. Studies reveal that most rape cases are not about sex, they are about control. Look again at the Photograph. Officer Derek Chauvin is holding a man down with one knee on his neck, yet he has one hand in his own pocket. Not only does this demonstrate control but it also shows domination. He is showing people that he can control this person without even using his hands. “Look at me. I’m in control and there is nothing he can do about it.”
I also want to point out that there was no reason to hold a handcuffed man down on the street for any extended length of time unless someone wants everyone to see. Cuff ‘em and stuff ‘em in the vehicle. Leave the scene quickly and turn them over to the jail.
Be Fair. Be Safe. Be Accountable.
I remember when the same person that posted the article was also against the peaceful protest of taking a knee.
Could it be that he like to many white Americans, just hate blacks and other minorities?
No, I don’t hate blacks. I’m an ex cop and an immigrant who happens to love my country and despises people like Kaepernick, Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton.
They all happen to be Black men, yeah you keep believing that you are not a hater of minorities, especially Black Americans. Unless 100 percent Native American to what is now the United States we are all immigrants.
Manny you are right, all three are black. But I also despise Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders, and they are all white. And by your logic that means I also hate whites.
You have the same problem that all you people have, you tend to put what is in your mind in the minds of others.
That is not my logic, but look at the title of the article, I think that I could safely assume that is your logic, if one were to call it logic.In case you don’t understand you made the article about race.
I think I have read everything you ever posted in Big Jolly, I don’t visit your blog. Based on what I read I believe my opinion of you having a hate of Black is correct. But you know your own mind, maybe you are just pandering to the audience.
No, I’m not against a peaceful protest against police brutality,but there is a time and place for everything, and that was not the time. What Kaepernick did was to disrespect our flag and country by refusing to stand for the playing of the anthem.
If Kaepernick wanted to protest during the game, he could have done so by refusing to play. But that would have cost the ungrateful bastard some money. And that goes for all the other players, both black and white, who joined in by refusing to stand for the anthem.
The media has tried to sugarcoat the disrespect for flag and country by describing it as “taking a knee” instead of describing it as a refusal to stand for the anthem.
Howie,
We may disagree on some things, but NEVER apologize, or play defense with Manny. He’s still on his hate filled jag from last night, looting and rioting downtown. So he’s going to try and transfer his racist hatred to you.
Manny: “Yeah, I looted the Verizon store and destroyed police cruisers, but Howie is the bad guy! Howie is the real racist!”
Manny is just another Marxist agitator who wants to destroy America, just like all the other domestic terrorist rioters we saw last night. You owe him zero explanation. Just take care of yourself, and be safe. It won’t be long before Manny and his ilk decide to start destroying the suburban areas good people fled to to avoid people like him.
On the bright side, all those liberals and socialists just proved that the Wu flu panic is a put up job. Notice they weren’t worried at all about ‘social distancing,’ or “you’re going to kill grandma!” They just showed all of us that there is no reason to return to normal, no reason people can’t assemble in crowds, say, to watch the Astros, or Rockets.
The people supposedly most fearful of the Wu flu just showed us they are, in actuality, unafraid. So now it’s time to reopen and get back to work.
There you go Howie that is your kind of person, Bill Daniels. Do you believe like Bill Daniels that shooting children and women is okay?
The so called troll from a few days back was the only honest one among you people that admits what his true feelings were.
The Republican Party used to stand for something, those days are gone all they have are people people like you’ll.
You people have already destroyed what was the greatest country in world, so now you will start spinning it that it was the other guys, typical for you people.
There is “Mourning in America” because of people like you.
https://youtu.be/t_yG_-K2MDo
As soon as I hear someone say, “You People” I know the true bigot has identified himself.
Yeah Manny – an awful lot of the problem here, from BOTH sides, is a quick rush to shout “You People”.
What is this “You People”? Are you saying that just because I’m Anglo, I’m a bad person? Just because I’m a conservative? Just because I’m a male? If you don’t like something that Howie has said, by all means disagree. You think Bill is a racist? Tell him so! But claiming that “All Trump Supporters have destroyed the country”; or “All Anglo’s are racist”; or “all men are rapists” is not one single bit better than some guy saying “All Mexicans are lazy”.
By the way, I might note that a lot of the worst of the rioting and looting in Minneapolis seems to have been instigated by white Antifa activists.
Fat, just using the same type of dog whistles that you people like to use, just different dogs that are being whistled at. It is not nice to lump people all in a group and maybe I could believe you people if you had pointed it out when Bill Daniels, for instance, used words like;
“Manny is just another Marxist agitator who wants to destroy America, just like all the other domestic terrorist rioters we saw last night.” or
“all those liberals and socialists just proved that the Wu flu panic is a put up job. Notice they weren’t worried at all about ‘social distancing,’ or “you’re going to kill grandma!” They just showed all of us that there is no reason to return to normal, no reason people can’t assemble in crowds, say, to watch the Astros, or Rockets. ”
Fat I will believe you people when you start responding to those that ain’t whistling at Blacks and other minorities. Heck, why don’t you start it Fat?
Fat, “Biden will win and the US will end up as a 3rd world socialist dump.” Were you lumping people, Fat?
Guess what Fat, thanks to Trump and people like you America has become a dump, the world is laughing at us. Iran and Venezuela go around our sanctions out in the open. Still waiting for North Korea to get rid of its nukes.
What happened to caring about the deficit? Why ain’t you people complaining about the billions in handouts to farmers? That is welfare Fat.
Fat and your thoughts on the peaceful protest during the national anthem? By the way Fat, many whites are not included in the phrase that I use to refer to you people. You people is your state of mind.
By the way Fat, do you agree with Bill Daniels that it okay to shoot children and women?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/12/04/brief-history-world-leaders-laughing-trump/
Manny,
I’m not responsible for Bill’s comments. He has his own issues and problems to deal with. He, once again, is an individual, who deserves to be treated as an individual.
I don’t think you’re a Marxist, although your politics lay significantly to the left of mine. And I certainly don’t think you want to destroy America. And, I don’t think that the vast majority of those who have been rioting want to destroy America.
I do think that much of the fear of Covid-19 is misplaced or exaggerated. I also think that many of the prophylactic measures attempted by the government are less than effective, and have often been applied in haphazard, illogical, and confusing ways. And, I think that in many cases the executives involved – at the local, state and federal levels – have been prone to issue edicts that far exceed their Constitutional authority.
I don’t see how you can claim that saying, “Biden will win and the US will end up as a 3rd world socialist dump.” is “lumping” people. At any rate, I seriously doubt that Biden can win in the fall. In fact, I figure that there’s at least a 50% chance that the Democrat party will come to its senses and replace him as their candidate.
I also do not consider the US to be a “dump” in any way. If the world is laughing at us, it’s because they don’t know any better, at any rate I really don’t care about their opinion. Nor do I care about anything that the Washington Post (or as I call it Jeff Besos’ crying rag) writes.
The deficit? I’ve been complaining about the deficit for the last 40 years. I complain and write letters to every Congressperson who represents me. It doesn’t seem to do any good, and it’s one of the few non-partisan issues in US politics today. Yes, I hate farm subsidies. I hate corporate subsidies. I hate individual subsidies. I want the Federal Government to balance its budget. It’s all welfare and it needs to stop.
I have no issue with Colin Kaepernick or anyone else kneeling during the National Anthem. We have the 1st Amendment; it seems to be clear on that point. Mind you, I don’t like it, I think it’s inappropriate and ill timed, but that’s Colin’s problem. I also have no problem with Colin’s employer telling him to stand up or get fired because he’s pissing off the paying customers. That’s their right. I will give Colin full credit though. He stood by his convictions and took the hit. I’m impressed. Did it help? You tell me.
No, I don’t agree with Bill that it’s OK to shoot women and children. As a general rule I don’t think it’s OK to shoot anybody. But I also don’t think that a protest and a riot are the same thing. Whatever those protesters might have wanted to say was lost when we saw guys running out of the Target carrying big screen TV’s. And, please, please, PLEASE don’t try to equate the Boston Tea Party with the last 3 evenings. They resemble each other the way a Soap Box Derby resembles a Formula 1 race.
One last thing, Derek Chauvin should be charged with murder (I believe this has already happened) the 3 other cops should also be charged as accomplices. Hopefully they will be tried and convicted. They failed in their duty as police officers and they are a pox and an embarrassment to all good cops everywhere. They have made being a police officer more difficult and more dangerous. Far worse, they have deprived a citizen of his life for no good reason.
I didn’t bring up the Boston Tea Party, never even crossed my mind. Why is that you people always put thoughts, your thoughts, into other people’s brains.
Biden will win in a landslide, we can come back in November and see who was right.
Depending on where you get your news, assuming you don’t create your own reality, unemployment is between 20 and 30 percent. Covid deaths are going back up. There will probably be another 2 or 3 trillion dollar help, making it about an eight trillion budget deficit this year. That is the nation’s debt only not to mention state and local government debts. Tell me what is going on that makes America better now than it was four years ago.
I am not a Marxist, nor am I a Mexican. I state “Mexican” because you came up with that during one of your replies. I am an American, my parents were Americans, maybe one of my grandparents was not born in the US. Five out of the eight grandparents were born in what is now the United States. That is my European DNA which is about 65% the other 35% is Native American.
Well if there are more people like you claim to be maybe the Trump Party has not completely destroyed the Republican Party.
Manny:
I’ve seen the false equivalency between the Boston Tea Party and the current rioting in at least half a dozen places in the last 36 hours. I didn’t say you had brought up the Tea Party, I asked you not to.
It is possible that Biden will win in November. If he does America will be worse off because of it. I’m not a huge fan of Trump, but he’s a far better choice than Biden. As usual, we are faced with the choice of “bad” and “worse” for our President. Honestly, I am far more concerned about who will end up in control of Congress. I am sick of the endless grandstanding, self-aggrandizing, gotcha “investigations”. (By the way, if Biden does manage to get elected, prepare yourself for endless investigations into his dealings with China, and into Hunter’s dealings with almost everybody. Should we get to see Biden’s tax returns for the last 10 years?)
The unemployment rate is indeed between 20 and 30 percent – due mostly to unwarranted and ineffective economic restrictions imposed by local and state politicians across the US. Covid deaths? At this point there are absolutely no statistics that I actually trust.
Regardless, none of this is the fault of Donald Trump. Could he have reacted quicker? Possibly, but frankly, he got hammered for what the actions he did take. And, yes, there’s a really good chance that Congress will pass and the President will sign another 2-3 Trillion dollar relief bill. They shouldn’t, but they will. Because there are a lot of politicians who have discovered that people will vote for those who provide bread and circuses, and the American electorate is proving them right.
Is America better today than it was 4 years ago? Well, it is for me personally. I think there are a lot of people who remember what it was like 3 months ago before Covid-19. Will they still remember in November? Who knows.
I know you’re not a Marxist. I don’t care about your parentage. I hate, abhor, detest people who hyphenate “American”. I don’t care about “Mexican-American”, “African-American”, “Native-American”, “Irish-American”, “Asian-American”, etc. You’re either an American or you’re not.
On a different but related topic – there is a world of difference between protesting and rioting. You want to march? I’m with you. Stand in from of city hall and sing? Go for it! Shutdown traffic in front of the Police Station? OK, fine.
But when that protest devolves into rioting – where people are injured, and property is damaged and destroyed, you are out of bounds and society needs to reign you in. Rioting and destruction of property is not free speech.
And, I might add that “protestors” running down the street with large TV’s in their hands, kind of make my point.
They were peacefully protesting in front of the white house, when federal thugs started shooting rubber bullets and tear gas to clear a path for Trump to get to St. George Church. Where the same federal thugs tear gassed the priests and other worshipers and forcefully removed them from church ground.
What do you think Trump has done right to merit another four years and no there is no one worse that Trump.
Did you miss the fact that the rioters had already tried to burn down St. John’s Churc? You want Trump to let them finish the job? What is wrong with you? Trump repelled the street thugs and took back the area for decent Americans. You can think of it as taking territory from ISIS. Same kind of people….evil people who like burning churches.
100 years from now, hopefully that church will still be there, because Trump drew a red line and said “You’re not burning this down.” This current Democrat sponsored violence will be forgotten, and probably the fact that Trump saved the church will be forgotten, but…..the church will still be there.
I suppose you are upset that Trump called in the 82nd Airborne so your buddies can’t destroy the the Smithsonian museums and and other national treasures.
Manny – here’s video of police clearing the square versus when the President spoke. Judge for yourself if they were using tear gas and clearing a path for the President.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dc-protesters-trump-church-visit