George Floyd Murder Open Thread

What are your thoughts about the murder by police of George Floyd and the subsequent protests and arrests.

First, my condolences and deep sorrow to and rage with George Floyd's family.

It's been announced that the first of his murderers arrested, officer Chauvin has been assigned a bail of $500,000. I expect that right wingers will set up an indieGoGo and raise the money to bail him out... unless IndieGogo or any of the other fundraising websites refuse to support it. If he is released on bail, things are going to get much worse. Just setting a bail so low is an outrage.

MN Gov says that the situation in Minneapolis is no longer about Floyd's deat, it's about instilling fear. He says that an organized entity is perpetrating the protests on the city. He is calling out the entire MN National Guard, something never done before. He says that no justice for George Floyd's family will have an effect on the people protesting-- the people throwing projectiles, starting fires. He says that people wearing masks were there to hide identity, not for Covid19.

He says there will be legal protests. But he says, "If you are in the streets tonight you are not on the side of goodness or righteousness." Sorry governor. But protests are happening because your side of goodness and righteousness didn't do its job.

I'm glad that Keith Ellison, a solid progressive, is Attorney General for the state. He'll do what he can. But apparently, it's falls to the District Attorney for the county to press charges.

We now know that Chauvin and Floyd both worked as bouncers at the same club. There could have been a connection and bad blood between them, which would open a line to a first degree, premeditated murder charge for Chauvin.

The mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis both say that outsiders have come to MN to cause violence. That's probably true. There are. probably "black block" anarchists showing up like they did for Occupy Wall Street. And there are also, probably, agent provocateurs-- undercover police, FBI, etc., who are perpetrating violence and law breaking. It's amazing that even on the mainstream media, people are being given a voice to suggest the likelihood of agents provocateur. The Minneapolis Public Safety Commissioner says that white supremacists are encouraging people to go to Minneapolis to sow trouble. He says that he believes 80% of the protesters are from out of state.

That said, the people who are shooting at police, using IEDs and destroying property and looting are going too far, hurting innocent business people. That said, police keep killing blacks. The police who killed George Floyd had been cited many times before for wrong behavior-- far more than the average police in their force. Putting them together set up a perfect storm.

Minneapolis Public Safety Commissioner: "I will always respect everyone's first those rights, but those rights stop when you throw a molotov cocktail, loot a store or start a gas station on fire."

I am terrified that POSPOTUS Trump is looking at sending in the military-- military police-- at the suggestion of his general. It is tragic that Posse Comitatus no longer exists.

I am thrilled to see protests happening in other cities throughout the US. This is a national issue that must be addressed. It is not just about Minnesota.

How to address the national problem? This is a problem within the police and district attorneys. The police have a culture of protecting their own bad seeds. There are too many district attorneys who reflexively protect police. That has to change. Elections are replacing DAs with decent fair DAs who protect all people's rights, not just police, like Larry Krasner, in Philadelphia. And there needs to be a national template for police policy. For example, Minneapolis already had a policy that required police to stop other police who were abusing suspects or breaking the law. That's a beginning. But the rules have to be fully carried out and prosecuted and they have to be even stronger and clearer.