Friday, May 29, 2020

The Rush to Convict ........... ... ........

POSTED ON MAY 29, 2020 BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN CRIME, POLICING

MEDICAL EXAMINER: GEORGE FLOYD WASN’T ASPHYXIATED

From the first hours after George Floyd died on Lake Street in Minneapolis, the rush to convict the officers who took him into custody seemed unstoppable. The frenzy was fueled by a video of one of the officers kneeling on Floyd, seemingly on his throat, while the officers waited for an ambulance to arrive. Every politician in Minnesota (and elsewhere) denounced the video as “appalling,” “disgusting,” and so on, and called for the policemen’s heads. Only a few brave souls suggested that we should wait to learn the cause of Floyd’s death before stringing anyone up. Or burning anything down.

Today we got the first information from Hennepin County’s Medical Examiner, in an attachment to the criminal complaint against officer Derek Chauvin:

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner (ME) conducted Mr. Floyd’s autopsy on May 26, 2020. The full report of the ME is pending but the ME has made the following preliminary findings. The autopsy
revealed no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation. Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death.

Further, the complaint’s Statement of Probable Cause recites that Floyd complained of being unable to breathe well before Officer Chauvin put his knee on Floyd’s neck:

While standing outside the car, Mr. Floyd began saying and repeating that he could not breathe.

Does this mean that the officers’ handling of the situation was a model of fine police work? Of course not. And the manner in which they handled Floyd could have contributed to his death, according to the Medical Examiner. But the outrage over the Floyd case has mostly been based on the assumption that Officer Chauvin choked him to death by kneeling on his throat. If that assumption is false, the story is far more nuanced.

There is a great deal about this incident that we do not know. To cite just one example, we don’t know, as far as I am aware, whether Floyd was, in fact, the person who tried to pass a counterfeit bill. We also don’t know whether drugs played a role in his death; the Medical Examiner refers to “potential intoxicants in his system.” The full report will contain chemical analyses of any such intoxicants. Maybe there weren’t any, but at this point, no one has ruled out the possibility that Floyd died not on account of police brutality, but from a drug overdose.

It may be that when all the facts are in, we will conclude that George Floyd died as a result of negligence on the part of Minneapolis policemen. If so, there will be plenty of time for an accounting. But today’s disclosure of the Medical Examiner’s preliminary findings reminds us why lynch mobs have always been a bad idea, and calls for overnight justice are nearly always misguided.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous5/30/2020

    Who cares, officer had 19 complaints on him. He needed to be fired. Eventually caught up to him.

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    1. Anonymous5/30/2020

      Certain "Community" members make complaints about the police all the time. These complaints should be recorded on sheets of charmin.

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    2. Anonymous5/30/2020

      I have over 50 complaints against me none of them sustained should I be fired too criminals make up stories?

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    3. Anonymous5/30/2020

      You watch too much tv.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous5/30/2020

    If this autopsy report holds up, the officer will be out by Monday. It seems that he was just following basic police training. If that is so, he and the other three officers will be reinstated soon. Justice also requires that they be compensated by the city and the mayor who so harshly libeled them.

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    1. Anonymous5/30/2020

      I'm sorry to say officer is screwed, 6 years in jail minimum

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    2. Anonymous5/30/2020

      If these police officers get their jobs back, it will only be through the courts. Minneapolis and that pussy mayor will throw a "conduct unbecoming an officer" rule violation at him and that will be that. The true backstory on the events leading up to this arrest will be buried. An officer's justification for maintaining control of this arrestee will never see the light of day. Don't think so? Ask VanDyke

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  3. Anonymous5/30/2020

    Drugs kill.

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  4. In a way, Derek and George are both losers. It's news, because the officer is White and the arrested is Black. If their races were reversed, "nobody" would care. ☹️

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