I don’t know what the verdict is. I hope it’s the right one (guilty on all counts) but it could be the wrong one (full not guilty). I dragged my feet too long to post this. Sorry about that. Please click back to the Derek Chauvin tag if you don’t know what the verdict is.
I can believe that failed businessblob Donald Trump would endorse Derek Chauvin’s hate crime murder of George Floyd. Trump is a racist whose physical appearance contradicts the concept of the master race.
But that Trump would pay Chauvin’s legal team? That’s where the satirical story, published a couple of days ago, falls apart. McKenzie Sadeghi fact checks for USA Today:
Shortly after the prosecution and defense rested their cases in the murder trial of Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd, an article was circulating claiming former [Oval Office occupant] Donald Trump picked up Chauvin's legal fees.
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, is facing murder and manslaughter charges over the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man. [Floyd] was unarmed when he died May 25, 2020, after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes.
The claim that Trump is paying Chauvin's legal fees originated in an April 17 article from americaslastlineofdefense.com — a satire site — headlined, "Trump Picking Up Officer Chauvin's Legal Fees."
But of course some people saw the satirical article and didn’t read much beyond the headline before sharing it on social media. The first paragraph doesn’t give any indication of the satirical intent:
It’s no secret that Donald Trump, #45, loves the police and holds them in high regard. Trump is a big fan of all first responders, but none more than police officers. Donald Trump spoke about early aspirations to be a police officer, but his family business came calling louder. That did nothing to diminish his love for law enforcement.
For now let’s accept the premise that Trump holds anyone besides himself and brutal dictators “in high regard.” I wonder if the same bone spurs that kept him out of the military also kept him out of the police force?
There’s a commercial (for VacciNATION in my case, you might get a different one). Then a paragraph that casts aspersions on “liberal democrats” who harassed Trump unfairly with their “witch hunt.” At this point, it’s hard to tell where the author of the article is coming from. Then there’s another commercial (this one for Money Metals in my case). And then this paragraph:
Much like Chauvin, Donald Trump is a pretend tough guy, with fans acting as if Chauvin was some kind of super cop, just like they pretend Trump was a super president. Little do the democrats know, Trump likes to bet big on people. Usually the worst people. So he is paying Derek Chauvin’s lawyers. Well, maybe, Trump doesn’t really pay anyone, so there’s sure to be a lawsuit here somewhere.
Anyone who read up to that point would have started to suspect that maybe this is not an actual news report. The article goes from saying that Trump is paying every penny of the costs for Chauvin’s defense to saying “Trump doesn’t really pay anyone.”
"Everything on [americaslastlineofdefense.com] is fiction. It is not a lie and it is not fake news because it is not real. If you believe that it is real, you should have your head examined," reads the site's "About Us" page.
I doubt anyone who rushes to post the article to social media before reading it in full would bother to take the time to at least skim the website’s “About Us” page.
As Sadeghi makes abundantly clear for USA Today, Chauvin’s defense was paid by his police union, not by Trump. Next time you hear someone complaining about how unions make teachers, doctors, factory workers, etc., lazy, remind them that police unions help lazy cops literally get away with murder.
Hopefully Chauvin will be found guilty on at least one count. And hopefully that will help cops realize that a badge is not a license to kill.
President Joe Biden is preparing for the possibility of an improper not guilty verdict, just like President Hillary Clinton would have been. Trump is too broke to pay lawyers to defend anyone. But his crimes in elected office have emboldened racists like Derek Chauvin to commit hate crimes with impunity.
Tuesday, Apr 20, 2021 · 9:20:43 PM +00:00 · Alonso del Arte
What a relief. Murderer Derek Chauvin has been found guilty on all three counts, according to ABC News.
There is still a lot of work to be done to reform our wayward police, with their unjust wall of silence, and to properly regulate police unions, both of which have contributed to a correct verdict like in this Chauvin case to be in doubt.
Even today, with this correct verdict being handed out, there is a lot of racist police misconduct going on today. Police culture needs to change: if a cop does something wrong, he should be held accountable in a fully transparent manner.
Unlike George Floyd, Derek Chauvin got his due process, and his punishment will be neither cruel nor unusual.