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African-American George Floyd's death has led to marches, demonstrations, acts of violence, and looting across the USA and in other parts of the world. Emotions are running high. We will not attempt to accuse or defend anyone here. Just attempt to lay out the information we have and offer it up for the community to discuss. Many comments about this incident have been posted to unrelated stories on this site. This is, therefore, an attempt to provide one place on SoylentNews where people are encouraged to discuss it. So as to not derail other stories on the site, I kindly ask you focus those comments here.
Wikipedia has a page about this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_George_Floyd (permanent link to the page as it appeared at the time of writing):
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed in the Powderhorn community of Minneapolis, Minnesota. While Floyd was handcuffed and lying face down on a city street during an arrest, Derek Chauvin, a white American Minneapolis police officer, kept his knee on the right side of Floyd's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds; according to the criminal complaint against Chauvin, 2 minutes and 53 seconds of that time occurred after Floyd became unresponsive.[3][4][5][6][7] Officers Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng, and Thomas K. Lane participated in Floyd's arrest, with Kueng holding Floyd's back, Lane holding his legs, and Thao looking on and preventing intervention by an onlooker as he stood nearby.[8]:6:24[9][10]
The arrest was made after Floyd was accused of using a counterfeit $20 bill at a market.[11] Police said Floyd physically resisted arrest.[12][13] Some media organizations commented that a security camera from a nearby business did not show Floyd resisting.[14][15] The criminal complaint filed later said that based on body camera footage, Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe while standing outside the police car, resisted getting in the car and intentionally fell down.[16][17][18][19] Several bystanders recorded the event on their smartphones, with one video showing Floyd repeating "Please", "I can't breathe", "Mama", and "Don't kill me" being widely circulated on social media platforms and broadcast by the media.[20] While knee-to-neck restraints are allowed in Minnesota under certain circumstances, Chauvin's usage of the technique has been widely criticized by law enforcement experts as excessive.[21][22][23] All four officers were fired the day after the incident.[24]
[...] Charges: Third-degree murder (Chauvin) Second-degree manslaughter (Chauvin)
This has been extensively covered by the media. Some outlets attempt to put their own interpretations on their coverage with their selection of video footage and with their commentary. It is difficult to find a simple video of the incident. Here is one that has coverage from the time of initial encounter of the police the officers with George Floyd up through his being taken away by ambulance. The video is a composite of shots from a restaurant's surveillance camera (Dragon Wok), Officer body cam, and bystander cell phones. YouTube footage: Full George Floyd Available Footage (21:12). If anyone has more complete footage of the arrest, please mention it clearly (with a link) in the comments.
Lastly, this is a hard time for everybody. Pandemic. Lock-down. Unemployment. Fears. Please be mindful of others' circumstances when commenting. We are a community sprung from a time of challenge. Let us continue to be here for one-another during this difficult time. SoylentNews is People.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday June 03 2020, @04:08PM (10 children)
In other words, they get to protest in defiance of coronavirus lockdowns because their opinions and goals are that important, but other people don't get to protest because their opinions and goals are not important.
Me, I think the lockdowns are tolitarian bullshit and everyone should exercise their first amendment rights by flipping the government the bird and protesting anyway.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Wednesday June 03 2020, @04:29PM (8 children)
I liked my wording better. It's about what people consider is for the greater good. IMNSHO the Second Amendment itself is not for the greater good, because I believe unrestricted gun ownership (and consequent use) takes away more liberty than it creates.
I don't really share that view, but then I would have hoped that everyone that could would isolate themselves voluntarily to cut down the spread of this disease.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 04 2020, @03:10PM (7 children)
The point is, they thought it was vitally important for the greater good. It is not up to you to decide that it's not. You don't get to decide whose opinions are valid, and which are not. Every man has the right to speak his mind. You might think his opinion is stupid or laughable or appalling, but you don't get to stop him. That also means he doesn't get to stop you from saying what you want.
Too many schools have stopped teaching civics. After this nonsense, the whole country needs a double dose.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 3, Touché) by acid andy on Thursday June 04 2020, @03:24PM (1 child)
I can decide whatever I like. If I was acting on those decisions in a way that impinged on the rights of others, you'd have a point. Otherwise it's basically thoughtcrime.
You wrote:
and:
Please explain if the act of hurling condemnations is covered by the right every man has to speak his mind? If not, why not?
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 04 2020, @03:56PM
Sure. The difference is, Gov. Northam of Virginia tried to ban the protests. That's the government trying to strip Virginians of their First Amendment rights. He can condemn them all he wants to, but he went beyond words to actions. What it means for those who condemned those protests and not these last is that they're stinking hypocrites.
The Virginians have the right to protest Northam's violations of their 2A rights. Michiganders have the right to protest Gov. Whitmer's lockdowns. People upset about George Floyd's death have the right to protest that.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by acid andy on Thursday June 04 2020, @03:47PM (4 children)
Agreed but I thought the implication was that it would be authorities enforcing a lockdown that might stop a protest, rather than a citizen expressing their disapproval of said protest.
I respect your view that the COVID-19 lockdown shouldn't exist but personally disagree with it.
If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Thursday June 04 2020, @04:02PM (3 children)
And that's the crux right there. The tension between disagreements is the lifeblood of democracy. Most people suppose unanimity is what democracy means, that that is the goal, but that scares the crap out of me. The worst crimes in history have been committed by people who were 100% sure they needed to commit them.
Unfortunately the confusion about sending the national guard into these cities has arisen because the media and many politicians have willfully misconstrued that action as an attempt to quell protests. It is not. Protests are fine, but looting, arson, assault, and the other flavors of mob violence are not. The first must be protected, the latter must be stopped with the National Guard (if the police cannot).
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 04 2020, @04:13PM (2 children)
Even though DeBlasio is certainly not the sharpest knife in the drawer and the heavy-handed tactics of the NYPD require serious investigation and prosecution for abuses, I happen to agree with him about not bringing in the National Guard.
Why? Because, as he said, they don't know our neighborhoods, they don't have de-escalation training (despite the issues with the NYPD, things could have gotten much, much worse), and the idea of soldiers with fully automatic weapons trained to *kill* their adversaries roaming the streets is a recipe for disaster.
Feel free to disagree, but let's put a couple dozen of those guys on *your* block for a couple weeks and see how you like it. Definitely don't break curfew or they might just shoot you dead.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 04 2020, @10:42PM (1 child)
Cmdr. Adama: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnZ53lPPsF0 [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 05 2020, @09:48PM
Whether it be Lorne Greene or Edward James Olmos, I had to endure that horrible crap once -- I'm certainly not going to do so again.
If you have something useful to say, then say it. I'm not going to watch garbage just because you're inarticulate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2020, @07:10PM
I give my city mayor the bird for this stupid ass curfew. At least under the COVID-19 lockdown I was legally allowed to take my dog outside for a run when the sun sets and the weather is bearable.