The death of George Floyd on May 25 has led to continuing riots through out the US. The ex-con from Houston has been martyred into sainthood because he was a black man allegedly killed by white cops. But the knee restraint used by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for seven minutes and 46 seconds did not kill Floyd
The media has sensationalized Chauvin keeping his knee on Floyd’s neck while the ex-con kept saying “I can’t breathe.” But various videos showed a non-compliant Floyd shouting seven times “I can’t breathe” while the cops were trying to place him in a police car and well before the officers finally put him on the ground. The video also show that several times Chauvin lifted his knee to reduce the pressure on Floyd’s neck.
Pinning Floyd to the ground for those seven minutes and 46 seconds really looked bad. But appearances can be deceiving. The officers were waiting for an ambulance they had called because Floyd had injured his head on the police car they had been trying to place him in.
The neck restraint used by Chauvin was consistent with the training all Minneapolis police officers got. In its training materials the Minneapolis police department even has a photo illustrating the knee restraint.
At no time did any of the four cops use any kind of excessive force against Floyd. Absent of any contact with the police, Floyd would likely have died on May 25 from the amount of fentanyl he had consumed.
Four days after Floyd’s death, Chauvin and the three other officers involved in the restraint were charged with murder. Two days later the chief medical examiner received the toxicology report which revealed that Floyd had 11 milligrams per liter of blood in his system. Medical experts consider 3 milligrams per liter of blood a fatal dose. Floyd had nearly four times that amount in his system.
The media and the prosecutors have all but ignored the toxicology report. The prosecutors do not want to admit that in their rush to judgement, a grave injustice is being done to Chauvin and his three fellow officers. Instead of reporting the real cause of Floyd’s death, the media preferred to sensationalize the killing of a black man by white cops and the riots that followed.
All but forgotten is that Floyd’s arrest resulted from a convenience store employee’s complaint that the ex-con tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Chauvin and his three fellow cops did not kill Saint Floyd. The ex-con’s death was of his own doing.
Floyd’s funerals in Minneapolis, Raeford, North Carolina and Houston anointed an ex-con into sainthood. Never mind that Floyd served four years in a Texas prison after accepting a plea bargain for a 2007 aggravated robbery in a home invasion.
In Houston race-baiter Al Sharpton, Mayor Sylvester Turner and members of congress Al Green and Sheila Jackson Lee eulogized Floyd by blaming his death on systemic racism. Joe Biden piped in with a taped message, calling Floyd’s death the result of “racism that stings at our very soul” and saying “Now is the time for racial justice. That’s the answer we must give to our children when they ask ‘why?’ Because when there is justice for George Floyd we will truly be on our way to racial justice in America.”
Those rabble-rousing eulogizers would have us believe that the ex-con was a victim of racist cops. But nothing could be further from the truth. Floyd’s arrest and treatment at the hands of the police had absolutely nothing to do with the color of his skin.
Our country has been going through hell ever since Floyd’s death, Rioting continues throughout the country to this day. On Sunday protestors rioted in Portland and tore down statues of Abe Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt And all the hell has broken out because an ex-con from Houston overdosed on fentanyl.
Oh so you know for a fact that’s what happened. You have investigated the case and that’s your case. Well I since you have appointed yourself judge, jury and executioner present your case to the grand jury in Minneapolis and see how far your decision gets you.
What part of “Medical experts consider 3 milligrams per liter of blood a fatal dose. Floyd had nearly four times that amount in his system” don’t you under stand?
George Parry, a former state and federal prosecutor, carefully analyzed all the evidence in Floyd’s death and concluded that “this was an overdose death by any other name.” He is highly critical of the prosecutors for withholding the results of the toxicology report from May 31 until August 25.
Parry firmly states that “these police officers did not cause George Floyd’s death and they have been charged with a crime they did not commit.”
I’m sick and tired of bs articles like this. Howie Katz I’m going to explain some things to you and I want you to get them through that head of yours. WE DO NOT CONSIDER GEORGE FLOYD A MATYR! A matyr is defined as someone who dies for their beliefs be they religious or otherwise. Now that’s insulting our intelligence. Why, former officer? Why? Are you negrophobic like the cops that are killing black men with ne remorse or precautions? Why must the “drug crazed negro” be your excuse to justify putting a knee to the neck and back of a human being who just happens to be black for 8 minutes? Why is being an ex con overriding the fact that if you watched the video, you are comfortable with people screaming “you’re killing him” 6 whole minutes before he died? Did he deserve to die? Did you read the toxicology report? Because I did. And I know Mr. Floyd had a negligible 19 nanograms per milliliter of methamphetamine, 2.9 nanograms per milliliter of THC, and 11 nanograms of fentanyl in his blood. Did your mind even conceive how much a nanogram is? It’s one billionth of a measure. For example, a nanosecond is one billionth of a second. If you didn’t know that, it explains a lit. You are from Texas, after all. Moreover, this article tells me a lot about you. And it’s just as sad that it’s people like you who are keeping them riots going. Because instead of looking at the situation for what it is, you just have to find a reason for the victim to have a justifiable death. That’s the same thing that’s been going on for hundreds of years and yet here you are, an ex officer of the law to be correct, blurting out trash for your readers. I have never met you as an officer and I can tell just by your rhetoric what kind of officer you were. I bet you like to see people with mental disorders die by the state, huh? I mean you are from Texas. Killing people with low IQs is what yall do. They don’t riot and burn things up because of George Floyd. It’s an attention getter. But instead of paying attention, you spew garbage like this. The future has no place for people with a rhetoric and ideals like yours. You seriously need to chill out and stop demoralizing things you obviously don’t know anything about.
Mellow, you sure don’t sound mellow. Yes, I do know what a nanogram is. But do you know what a milliliter is? 11 nanograms of fentanyl per milliliter of blood, or 11 milligrams of fentanyl per liter of blood, is well above a fatal dose.
And I am proud to be a Texan!
Your math is off dummy. There are one million nanograms to a milligram, and one thousand milliliters to a liter.
He would have 0.011 milligrams per liter. I’m shocked you graduated from med school
I was never good at math.
Nevertheless, the medical examiner wrote”that’s pretty high. This level of fentanyl [11 ng/ML] can cause pulmonary edema. Mr. Floyd’s lungs were 2-3x their normal weight at autopsy. That is a fatal level of fentanyl under normal circumstances.”
Howie, you are an idiot if you think the issue was specifically the death of George Floyd. It’s not about him. He is just the proxy for the rage and frustration thats been building for decades over the perceived mistreatment of Blacks by law enforcement. The images of a totally disinterested officer kneeling on the neck of a Black man who died triggered the release of that pent up rage.
That’s the point. Pick a better proxy. Most of the proxies seem to be criminal losers that the world is better off without…..just like Floyd. Chronic drug addict and violent felon….I’m glad he’s dead. I don’t have to worry about getting robbed by him or run over by him when he’s in one of his fentanyl/meth/pot fueled stupors. Then there was the “hands up don’t shoot” lie guy. Why am I supposed to be upset a guy who robs a convenience store and then tries to grab a cops gun, a cop who is sitting in his car, by the way, is dead. I’m glad he’s dead. The crime rate in Ferguson, MO went down after he was killed.
All that lionizing dead felons tells me is that black people who experience rage and frustration about those dead felons are either criminals, or stupid, or both. Why don’t those black people experience rage and frustration with the blacks who prey on the black community? Where is the rage against Fentanyl Floyd for robbing a pregnant woman at gunpoint? Bueller? Bueller?
For what it’s worth, a few of the deaths would be worth getting upset about, like Philando Castille, and the guy who got pulled over in the gas station and was shot reaching for his wallet. Either of those could have very well been me. But the vast majority of dead blacks killed by the police I’m expected to cry about had it coming to them for acting stupid, and that includes Fentanyl Floyd. Next time, don’t be a fat, out of shape drug addict and overdose while trying to pass counterfeit money, and then freak out when you know you’re gonna get your parole violated and go back to prison. He caused himself to have a heart attack. He didn’t asphyxiate, no matter how long the cop kneeled on his neck, which, by the way, is in the police manual, complete with picture, as the way to keep a suspect hopped up on dope from freaking out. Hope this helps.
Bill, you’re negrophobic. In this country that’s not a good look. Maybe about 60 years ago but nowadays it’s not a good look. And a knee to a suspect’s neck is not in any police manual or part of their training you lying pos. Even the Fraternal Order of Police condemned that crap so why oh why are you so hellbent on making an excuse to hate? You must have forgotten…we were pissed about Philando Castille because the cop got off. We were pissed about Tamir Rice because the cop got off. We weren’t too pissed about the other guy though. Why? Well, he sounded a Lot. Like. You. It’s easy to point and judge from the outside looking in, but when you’re on the inside looking out, they say you sympathize with criminals. Hell they even believe you are a criminal. Ask the last guy you mentioned that we should be mad about. No matter how much we try to show respect, no matter what we accomplish, no matter how lenient we may be to your cause: no one cares. I think Jay Z says it best on a song titled The Story of OJ. If you haven’t listened to it, take a listen. It’s educational to say the least.
“And a knee to a suspect’s neck is not in any police manual or part of their training you lying pos.” Sorry Mellow, but you’re the lying piece of shit. At the time of Floyd’s death, the Minneapolis police department was training its officers to use the knee restraint and one of the department’s training manuals even had a photograph showing an officer with his knee on a man’s neck.
As for the FOP, that group and many police officials were mislead by the way the media portrayed the incident. They could not see that several times Officer Chauvin lifted his knee to reduce the pressure on Floyd’s neck. And they did not know that the reason the cops pinned Floyd to the ground for seven minutes and 46 seconds was because they were waiting for an ambulance they had called for.
I don’t dislike all black people….just black criminals….and you….and other racist blacks just like you. You’re a white hating racist. Repeat: YOU. ARE. A. RACIST. Of course I don’t like you; you’re not a good person. . And LOL, you want me to listen to some song by…..an ex DRUG DEALER! Stop worshiping criminals. You are never going to get anywhere until you start embracing hard work, not committing crimes, being on time, and obviously, stop being blatantly racist with that huge chip on your shoulder, etc.
For what it’s worth, if you care to learn vs. just being upset and probably violent, read here from a very liberal source all about the MPLS Police training their officers in the very technique Chauvin used:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/minneapolis-p-d-trained-officers-to-use-the-neck-restraint-that-killed-george-floyd-docs/ar-BB16vgu6
If you click on the links in the article, it even has pictures from the training manual, which might be helpful to someone like you whose reading comprehension is obviously sub par.
Hope this helps.
A Prosecutor can indict a Ham Sandwich. A jury trial resulting in a conviction is a whole different animal.
Hey Howie, your friend Mellow Black seems to think that it is OK for people with significant mental disabilities to kill people, at least in Texas. He also seems to think it is OK for ex-cons to be loaded on several drugs and then interact stupidly with the cops, at least if it’s NOT in Texas. That is the solution. Criminals should stop practicing their trade in Texas but are OK everyplace else, as long as they are Black ex-con dopers. See, reasonable people can reach an understanding.
Ok Bobby first off, no, I don’t think it is ok for anyone to kill anybody because I am a pacifist. Secondly, loaded on drugs is an overstatement since a medical examiner said there wasn’t enough drugs in his system to kill him. Stop with the same victim blaming that has plagued this nation for centuries.
“Loaded on drugs is an overstatement” Like hell it is! In addition to fentanyl and methamphetamine, the toxicology report from the autopsy showed that Floyd also had cannabinoids in his system.
“A medical examiner said there wasn’t enough drugs in his system to kill him.” Mellow, you must be on some kind of dope. In his report the medical examiner stated: “That’s pretty high. This level of fentanyl can cause pulmonary edema. Mr. Floyd’s lungs were 2-3x their normal weight at autopsy. That is a fatal level of fentanyl under normal circumstances.”
Sorry Mellow, but I disagree with both your assertion and your conclusion. The FACT of the matter is that if Mr. Floyd had submitted to lawful arrest he would be alive today (if he didn’t OD along the way) and a lot of business property would still be up and functioning. Also probably a few people would not be dead who are now dead. I am, to some extent, blaming the “victim” because it is largely his fault, thru his own actions, that he is now dead. It is unfortunate, his short-comings and offenses should not have been capital offenses. The cops did not drive around looking for a black guy to kill because they were bored. Are they blame-free? Almost certainly not. Neither is Mr. Floyd.
“Are they [the cops] blame-free? Almost certainly not.” Whoa Bob, you’ve just gone off the rails. What did the cops do other than their job? Cops are sometimes guilty of wrongdoing, but not in the Floyd case. They did what they had been trained to do.
Howie and Mellow, you are making statements that cannot be reconciled. Do either of you have a link to the autopsy report itself that we can read and make our own decision?
https://www.hennepin.us/-/media/hennepinus/residents/public-safety/documents/floyd-autopsy-6-3-20.pdf
Let me add that if you click on my THE UNCONVENTIONAL GAZETTE blog and scroll down to the 4th entry, you can watch a 20 minute video in which George Parry, a former state and federal prosecutor, analyzes all the video footage from the beginning to the end of Floyd’s arrest, as well as the toxicology report, and concludes “”this was an overdose death by any other name” and “these police officers did not cause George Floyd’s death and that they have been charged with a crime they did not commit.”
Greg, I googled up both the autopsy report and the medcial examiner’s memo to the prosecutors, and that’s where I took this quote from: “That’s pretty high. This level of fentanyl can cause pulmonary edema. Mr. Floyd’s lungs were 2-3x their normal weight at autopsy. That is a fatal level of fentanyl under normal circumstances.”
Mellow, I went and read the autopsy report, and it appears that Howie’s version of events is more supported than yours. Here’s a few things that were noteworthy:
1) The Evidence of Injury section covering the head and neck doesn’t note any bruising or abrasions to the neck.
2) Internal Examination Neck section notes, “Layer by layer dissection of the anterior strap muscles of
the neck discloses no areas of contusion or hemorrhage within the musculature.”
3) Special Procedures section noted, “No areas of subcutaneous hemorrhage, soft tissue contusion, or
other occult injury are found in the posterior neck, right and left lateral neck, shoulders, back, flanks, or buttocks.”
From the autopsy it appears that the force to the neck was not significant. The force didn’t bruise the neck or cause internal bruising to the neck musculature. The internal bones were also intact. From this it appears that the knee on neck was not the cause of death.
As to Howie’s points
1) Respiratory System section notes, “The right and left lungs weigh 1085 and1015 g, respectively.” To understand the significance of these values I went to the PubMed.gov and found an article relating to normal organ weight in men which noted normal lung weight in males, “right lung was 445 g (range, 185-967 g), that of the left lung was 395 g (range, 186-885 g).” This tells us that the lungs were heavy beyond even the max range in the study. They were wet for some reason.
2) The heart had several areas of coronary artery disease.
It would appear from reading the autopsy report that the officer’s restraint mechanisms didn’t cause his death.
Now, to your underlying point on would he be alive if he wasn’t being arrested? Possibly. The lungs were heavy, presumably wet, and he had significant levels of CAD, but absent the stress of the arrest he may not have died. However, he appears to have been arrested for a crime leaving the law enforcement action supported. Would the same action have been taken against a white individual? Given the criminal history the answer is likely yes.
It’s hard to say that the officers acted wrongly when the autopsy shows that the neck was not injured.
But here’s an equally as important question. Do you understand what Bill means when he says choose a better proxy? It’s hard to support a cry for “justice” when the victim is attacking officers (Michael Brown), or the officers are return fire (Breonna Taylor.) Law enforcement is allowed to defend themselves. It’s hard to support a cry for “justice” when rioting is the first course of action and it turns out that the “victim” wasn’t really wronged (Floyd.)
Plenty of people of all races want to see bad law enforcement officers have their gun and badge removed. But we also are tired of seeing frivolous cries of oppression and racism. Can you understand that there’s a backlash to your position that’s building in society?
Greg, you can’t really be returning fire when you’re illegally breaking into a house. Yes I know your argument is that the police didn’t know it was a bad warrant, but for many of us that doesn’t hold water.
Gary, you’re right, for many on the far-left, arguments defending the police don’t hold water.
As for “the police didn’t know it was a bad warrant” you are obviously referring to the Breonna Taylor shooting, not Floyd’s death.
For your information that was not a bad warrant as alleged by your fellow anti-police rabble rousers. The Taylor warrant was one of several warrants issued in the same case and the warrants were served simultaneously.
And even if this had been a bad warrant, the officers still had the right to shoot back once they had been fired on.
Howie,
All indications are that it was a bad warrant. Even the police department admits that the warrant was “misleading” so it must have been a real fabrication. Putting aside the lies on the warrant application, it wasn’t until the 1970s that no-know warrants became much of a thing, there is no law supporting no-knock warrants only a rule put in place by judges and police. The only law that ever specifically allowed no-knock was repealed. That’s what I mean by a bad warrant, I get it you thing it’s a good warrant because a judge signed it.
I contend if the police act on a bad warrant they are home invaders and just like burglars they do not have the right to shoot back. I know the criminal the justice systems thinks of it differently, but since the system invented these warrants it’s kinda hard no to be cynical about the “rights” that have been conferred.
I agree that Floyd was an odd catalyst for the left to hang their hat on. Arguments defending the police hold a lot of water when they aren’t self serving.
Gary, you fail to differentiate between a warrant and affidavit.
In the Breonna Taylor case there was a bad affidavit. Detective Joshua Jaynes did submit a misleading affidavit to Jefferson Circuit Judge Mary Shaw, but once she issued the search warrant, it was a good warrant.
In any event, the cops were right in returning the gunfire of Taylor’s boyfriend and, unfortunately, she was shot dead because she happened to be standing along side him.
Seems like Gary is wanting to impose collective punishment for a misleading affidavit. Wouldn’t that be like incarceration for Breonna because her ex was a druggie?
Wasn’t that what the cops were trying to do?
Gary, if a cop pulled a little drowning boy out of a backyard swimming pool and applied CPR, you would say that compressing the victim’s chest was evidence of police brutality.
It doesn’t matter whether George Floyd died because of drugs or a stupid cop. It doesn’t matter if the warrant, or the affidavit or the victims or the cops were to blame in the case of Breonna Taylor. If you’re looking for something to blame for the riots, the marches, and the civil unrest, you need to look further.
First of all, there has been a building outrage in the minority community about the perceived abuses and inequities in the law enforcement community. There are several reasons for this: first, there ARE some bad actors in the LEO community. Sometimes it’s poor training, sometimes it’s insufficient screening, but it happens. Second, the media is deliberately fueling the unrest. They focus on the bad stories, ignore the good stories, and generally egg on the people who are complaining. But, regardless of the reasons the unrest has been building.
Second, the strain on society and communities since we began “socially isolating” in March has been overwhelming. A LOT of people have lost jobs (and the losses skew towards the minority communities). And, the isolation has removed many of the normal relief valves – sports, bars, churches and even just socializing with some friends in the park.
Eventually the lid had to blow off. George Floyd might have been the trigger, but if He hadn’t been there, it would have been someone else. What killed George Floyd? Ultimately a jury will decide. Same thing with Breonna Taylor. In the meantime, let’s take a deep breath.
If a cop shot a little boy who was drowning you’d call it self defense because the little boy spashed water on the cop.
Gary, I think you need to take some time off at the funny farm.
Howie,
It was a funny response and you know it. Why are you always so serious, especially when you’re wrong?