George Floyd, a resident of Minneapolis allegedly tried to pass a counterfeit twenty dollar bill. The police were called and Floyd ended up in handcuffs.
Somewhere between the sidewalk and the police car, George Floyd, still in handcuffs, ended up on the ground. Video from bystanders show that police had a knee on his neck. Witnesses said that Floyd was saying he couldn’t breath.
Six minutes later he had no pulse. Para medics are reported to have said they were never able to establish a pulse. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Much of the incident was recorded on video using cell phones.
Any clear headed person watching video of the incident in Minneapolis will believe it’s an open and shut case.
George Floyd is black so it is tempting to label the police as racists. That is not where the focus should be.
Most will agree that the police caused the death of George Floyd. It could be murder. The charges will be left up to the county attorney or a Grand Jury.
No one knows the heart of the policemen who arrested George Floyd. To judge motive is not the role of the public. It is the actions of the police that are to be judged.
Based on the videos in the public domain, the police caused his death. They killed him. The force exerted by police was more than excessive, it was deadly.
Everybody has a camera on their phone. It’s reasonable to believe there is a lot more video not yet public. It’s also reasonable to think the investigators will get a look at some of it.
The family of George Floyd has an attorney. Witnesses, not trusting law enforcement, will see to it that George Floyd’s lawyer receives more video.
Justice in the killing will happen.
There is another point that the people, not only in Minneapolis, but the nation, need to grasp.
There is evil in law enforcement. It is not pervasive. It is not widespread. It doesn’t even reach the eighty – twenty rule that is widely understood in business and government.
Eighty percent of police are honest and hardworking. It’s the twenty percent that get all the attention. The bad apples are likely far less than twenty percent.
Law enforcement has a certain way of attracting bully personalities. Bullies with power are able to flourish in a role like law enforcement. They can work their evil doings under the color of law.
It is only when an incident like the one in Minneapolis comes to light, do we see how bad the actions of a bully can become.
The police acted like bullies, exerting perverted power that caused the death of another human being. Regardless of the offense that caused his arrest, George Floyd did not deserve to be killed.
In the case at hand, there is not enough evidence to judge if racist bigotry played a role. It’s not known if the police officers ‘hated’ the victim.
At this point there is no evidence that the police officers are white supremacists. It’s not yet known if they visit racist websites or have Nazi flags hanging in their homes.
Race and bigotry are not the focus. At least not yet. This killing by the police is about evil human behavior.
America has witnessed, over the past three years, the fact that there is corruption inside law enforcement.
On the Federal level, Americans now know that there are some sworn to uphold the law, who are willing to break the law to frame innocent people for crimes they did not commit.
The motives are not nearly as important as the fact that cops can be, and sometimes are, corrupt. In the case of Minneapolis, it can be fatal.
Killing a man is the most serious of all crimes. Following that is the willful desire to deprive people of civil liberties. Based on a personal agenda, to create false information or manufacture evidence.
There are members of law enforcement willing to do both.
There was a case when the FBI, aware of a planned killing by mob members, did nothing to stop the murder.
The FBI knew who the killers were. They had them on a wiretap planning the crime.
The FBI did nothing to stop the murder.
Then the FBI had four innocent men charged for the murder. The four men were convicted and sent to prison where three if the four died.
It was proven by memos, that FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was aware the innocent men were framed. Why? Because the real killers were informants for the FBI.
The issue then and now, is in the rogue nature of some in law enforcement.
Bullies who think they know better. Gangsters with badges who believe the law is there for them, and innocent victims are merely collateral damage.
The question in Minneapolis is not about racism. It is about finding and getting rid of bullies. Rooting out the gangster mentality. Cops who believe their badge is a ticket to be not only the police, but judge and jury.
Other police officers know who the loose cannons are. They know who, in their midst, is capable of doing what the policemen did to George Floyd.
That is born out by information that the policemen who killed George Floyd have a history of civil complaints and other bad behavior.
Good, hardworking police officers in Minneapolis undoubtedly knew the four men involved in this killing were capable of such action. They knew this men are bullies with badges. They are gangsters.
How does it get this far?
The problem is not systemic racism.
The core to this problem rests in the culture of police protecting their own. At all costs.
Finally, when will charges be filed?
Had the players been different, and an ordinary citizen had done what the police did to George Floyd, they would have been behind bars before the body had grown cold.
How can you say “The problem is not systemic racism“ (Cook, 2020)?
I agree about the evil aspect and that most of the police are good hard working officers, but I am not sure it isn’t a systematic problem of racial profiling, biases, and prejudice that negativity impact how they are handled systematically.
Why are black Americans followed in stores by they security personnel and cameras? Why are black Americans pulled over for little to no reason? Why are guns pulled on black Americans by police for simply walking in an alley at night? Why do my friends who are black Americans all have these same kinds of experiences and I never have?
This is a very difficult subject. Systemic, usually used in medicine, means widespread. Infecting the whole. That is not what we have. That does not mean there is no infection.
There are bad people. Some are evil. When they have a badge, really bad things can happen. In the case of Minneapolis, I suspect the issue is how they hire, and how they train. Over the past few days, I also see there are issues with leadership.
When you say ‘handled systematically’, that refers to a fixed plan. I know there is no ‘plan’ for what you suggest. That does not mean it doesn’t happens. It happens because certain people think different than you and I.
Thanks for your thoughts, I think we agree.