Or murders or lynchings. Systemic racism no matter how you slice it. After centuries of police immunity, of denial of the humanity of our Black Brothers and Sisters, we have prosecutions in Minnesota, led by AG Keith Ellison. Four police officers fired immediately, and now indicted. The entire Minneapolis PD under Civil Rights investigation. Police (some of them) kneeling with protestors. You might as well say
The lion shall lie down with the lamb.
Except for the shrieking authoritarian minority that won't have it, no way, nohow. Losers. They are losing in politics, they are losing in the courts, they are losing their minds.
The mug shots.
Attorney General Keith Ellison upgraded charges against officer who knelt on George Floyd's neck; charged other 3 involved
The new charges come just two days after Gov. Tim Walz asked Ellison to take over the prosecution in the killing of George Floyd.
People get confused about murder charges, and no wonder, there are so many levels, and so many differences among the states and the Feds and every other jurisdiction.
- Third degree murder, the original charge against Derek Chauvin, shows willful disregard of human life.
- Second degree shows intent to kill.
- First degree shows malice aforethought.
- Felony murder is none of the above. It is a killing occurring during commission of a felony, in this case the assault on the helpless prisoner George Floyd, under pretended color of law, claiming that he "resisted arrest" while handcuffed on the ground.
Word of the arrests went out to all of the demonstrations live via cell phones,
and all of the protests and memorials turned into joyous celebrations. (Except for the Boogaloo Fanbois, who were there to foment chaos, and have been increasingly identified and arrested.)
(BTW, pay attention to the sign language translator. As I have pointed out before, she is a jewel. Even if you don't understand the signs, her face says it all.)
Now, let nobody pretend that we are done here.
The decision came just two days after Ellison took over the prosecution from Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman and followed more than a week of sometimes-violent protests calling for tougher charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who had pinned Floyd to the ground and held him there for nearly nine minutes. Protesters also demanded the arrests of the three other former officers who were present but failed to intervene. All three were booked into the Hennepin County jail on Wednesday.
“To the Floyd family, to our beloved community, and everyone that is watching, I say: George Floyd mattered. He was loved. His life was important. His life had value. We will seek justice for him and for you and we will find it,” Ellison said.
However, he said, he doesn’t believe that “one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and loss that so many people feel. The solution to that pain will be in the slow and difficult work of constructing justice and fairness in our society.”
President Obama on fixing our police departments.
OK, that's nearly two hours.
TL;DW two minutes
Well, you know what this means. It's trampling time again. It's also time for us to join hands with the cops who want to clean up the business. No more departments acting as criminal gangs looting their communities.
Some cities and counties and states will act on our burgeoning understanding. Some will seek to reassert police privilege, including the Bungler-in-Chief and "Grim Reaper" McConnell. But as our hpg likes to remind us every day, we have It's number. Lots of numbers, actually.
Background
This goes back to the beginnings of slavery in the US, and the formation of militias in the Colonies specifically for catching runaway slaves and putting down slave rebellions. Or to Spartacus in the really bad really old days, and on into prehistory.
The anger behind the protests, explained in 4 charts
Black men are still disproportionately likely to be killed by police.
3 days ago — 36% of unarmed people killed by police were black in 2015 despite black people being only 13% of the U.S. population
Only 13 of the 104 cases in 2015 where an unarmed black person was killed by police resulted in officer(s) being charged with a crime. 4 of these cases have ended in a mistrial or charges against the officer(s) being dropped and 4 cases are still awaiting trial or have a trial underway. Only 4 cases (Matthew Ajibade, Eric Harris, Paterson Brown Jr., and William Chapman) have resulted in convictions of officers involved, with a fifth case (Walter Scott) resulting in the officer pleading guilty.
Of the 4 cases where the officer(s) involved have been convicted and sentenced, none were sentenced to serve more than 4 years in prison. Only 1 of 2 officers convicted for their involvement in Matthew Ajibade's death received jail time. He was sentenced to 1 year in jail and allowed to serve this time exclusively on weekends. The officer who killed Paterson Brown was sentenced to only 3 months in jail. Deputy Bates, who killed Eric Harris, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and Officer Cobb, who killed William Chapman, was sentenced to 2.5 year
Backstory. How the US government stopped counting killings by police – and then restarted following the Guardian's investigation.
Over a thousand police murders. [paywalled]
Animals! and Music!
Song: "Deixa'm dir una cosa" by Sopa de Cabra.
Flowers! and Music!
I first heard this played by Vladimir Horowitz in 1966, on his practice run for his triumphant return at Carnegie Hall. He said that anybody who liked Blumenstück was a good audience, and he could tell that the Yale audience liked it. So here he is at the peak of his pianistic powers.
Weirdness! and Music!
Thursday, Jun 4, 2020 · 1:50:58 PM +00:00 · Mokurai
More Good News!
Former Joint Chiefs chairman rips Trump's threat of military force: 'Our fellow citizens are not the enemy'
Men charged in Ahmaud Arbery's murder to appear in court Thursday in Georgia
George Floyd death: Minneapolis to host first memorial event
Hundreds of people are expected to attend a memorial in Minneapolis for African American George Floyd, who died in police custody last month.
Former President Barack Obama and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are among senior public figures who have offered their support to the protesters.
They were joined on Wednesday by former Defence Secretary James Mattis, who also attacked his former boss President Donald Trump, saying that he stoked division and had abused his authority in his reaction to the protests.
What will happen at the memorial?
The event, in the northern city of Minneapolis where Floyd died, is the first of several to honour him.
Veteran civil rights campaigner, Rev Al Sharpton, will deliver the eulogy for the two-hour service, which will start at 13:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
Further tributes will be held at Floyd's birthplace in North Carolina on Saturday, and in his home town of Houston on Monday
Coronavirus in Russia: 'I don't trust Putin any more'
In Russia, President Putin’s approval rating has fallen to an all-time low.
Russia, like many countries, is suffering acute economic hardship after weeks of coronavirus lockdown.
Amid rising unemployment, there are signs of growing disillusionment with the Kremlin.
If Putin is going down, what hope is there for Donnybrook?