'America isn't a racist nation': Brandon Tatum schools the BBC - "Tatum noted the swiftness of Chauvin's trial and conviction, arguing that it was unusually quick for a murder trial. "I'm not really sure why people are acting like this is monumental," he said. "Also, he did not get a fair trial in my personal opinion," Tatum continued. "There was a lot of obstruction that happened, they paid the family out $27 million before the jury could be selected. I mean, they're gonna have a case in appeal, so I don't know why people are celebrating."... Tatum brought up the example of Tony Timpa, a white man from Dallas, Texas who was killed by police in a manner similar to George Floyd. Tatum noted the lack of outrage surrounding that killing compare to that of Floyd's arguing that the mass publicity surrounding Floyd's murder was driven by political reasons. He also noted that the crime rate among African-Americans is significantly higher than among white Americans, and that the police officers who patrol black neighborhoods are often themselves black."
The Atlantic - Posts | Facebook - "Felony murder uncouples intent from result, allowing murder charges to be applied more broadly. But does it really bring justice? #TheExperimentPodcast examines how the rule that convicted Derek Chauvin disproportionately punishes youth of color and women"
Black Lives Matter Directs Allies To L.A. Mayor Garcetti’s Home After Chauvin Guilty Verdict - "Shortly after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty on all three charges for his role in the death of George Floyd, Black Lives Matter’s Los Angeles chapter instructed followers to gather outside Mayor Eric Garcetti’s home."
NYC: BLM Protester Rages Against ‘F**king TaquerÃa Owned by F**king White Men' - "Black Lives Matter protesters asked “white people” dining outside in Brooklyn Tuesday to “get the fuck out” of the city Tuesday evening, after a jury in Minnesota convicted former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd... “We don’t want your f—ing money! We don’t want your f—ing taqueria, owned by f—ing white men!” the video shows the crowd chanting, echoing a ringleader as he stands on top of a table."
Leslie Jones: ‘Let’s Get The Rest Of Them Motherf***ers’ - "“Ghostbusters” actress Leslie Jones responded to the guilty verdict of Derek Chauvin with a call to get the “rest of them motherf***ers.”... Though it was unclear, Jones was likely either referring to the other officers who were present during Floyd’s killing or simply other police officers who have killed black people. During the Black Lives Matter riots of 2020, Jones posted another video in which she said to “burn down this f***ing constitution.” She also admitted to participating in the 1992 Los Angeles riots. “I’m telling you, I tore s*** up,” she said. “I had a sledgehammer, all that s***.” However, Jones admitted that the riots ultimately solved nothing... Following the Chauvin guilty verdict, celebrities and leftists have been using the moment to push extreme rhetoric. Filmmaker Michael Moore called for an end to “policing as we know it” while other Hollywood celebrities pushed messages of social justice."
Dershowitz: Maxine Waters' Tactics 'Borrowed Precisely from the Ku Klux Klan' - "Dershowitz said Waters is taking a page out of the Ku Klux Klan’s playbook to influence court cases by threatening violence. “First of all, the judge should have granted the motion for a mistrial based on the efforts of Congresswoman Waters to influence the jury,” Dershowitz declared. “Her message was clearly intended to get to the jury — ‘If you will acquit or if you find the charge less than murder, we will burn down your buildings. We will burn down your businesses. We will attack you. We will do what happened to the witness — blood on their door.’ This was an attempt to intimidate the jury. It’s borrowed precisely from the Ku Klux Klan of the 1930s and 1920s when the Klan would march outside of courthouses and threatened all kinds of reprisals if the jury ever dared convict a white person or acquit a black person. And so, efforts to intimidate a jury should result in a mistrial with the judge, of course, wouldn’t grant a mistrial because then he’d be responsible for the riots that would ensue, even though it was Waters who was responsible.”"
Rep. Waters says her 'words don't matter' in Chauvin case - "Facing the possibility of censure, Rep. Maxine Waters is brushing off criticism of her urging rioters to “get more confrontational” if Derek Chauvin is acquitted — saying her “words don’t matter” after the judge said she could cause the case to be “overturned.”... “The judge says my words don’t matter,” she falsely claimed. When pressed by a CNN reporter on the judge stating that her remarks could be grounds for an appeal, Waters again denied what happened, saying, “Oh no, no they didn’t.”... The California congresswoman went on to blame Republicans for the outcry over her remarks... The California lawmaker told the crowd at what was the seventh night of demonstrations after Wright’s killing, “We’ve got to stay in the streets, and we’ve got to demand justice.” “We’re looking for a guilty verdict,” she continued, referring to Chauvin. “And we’re looking to see if all of the talk that took place and has been taking place after they saw what happened to George Floyd. If nothing does not happen, then we know that we got to not only stay in the street, but we have got to fight for justice.” Waters went on to say that she was “hopeful” that Chauvin would be convicted, “and if we don’t [get the verdict], we cannot go away.” Asked if that meant a manslaughter conviction but a murder acquittal would be adequate, Waters said no... As for what the protesters should do if they don’t get the verdict they want, Waters said, “We got to stay on the street. And we’ve got to get more active, we’ve got to get more confrontational. We’ve got to make sure that they know that we mean business.”"
Jen Psaki refuses to condemn Maxine Waters for her call to BLM to be 'more confrontational' - "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Capitol Hill reporters Monday that Waters didn't need to apologize as her comments didn't incite violence"
It's only inciting violence if the right do it
CIA Head Writes Memo Celebrating Chauvin Guilty Verdict - "Burns celebrated the guilty verdict as “one step forward” and encouraged the agency prioritize “accountability.”... The CIA is prohibited from becoming involved in domestic law enforcement affairs... The CIA, like many other federal agencies, is becoming increasingly focused on social justice issues and willing to cater to a race-based narrative. In a recent recruitment advertisement, the intelligence agency embraced leftist rhetoric describing race and sex as pros to working in intelligence. “I am unapologetically me,” the officer in the video states. “I want you to be unapologetically you whoever you are. Know your worth. Command your space.” Former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell blasted Burns for politicizing the U.S. intelligence community and said he should resign if he truly believes his own woke rhetoric. “Our CIA agents are not racist or intolerant,” Grenell told The Federalist. “This stunt clearly signals Bill Burns is politicizing the Agency … If he really thinks the CIA tolerates race trauma and ‘persistent inequity’ then he, as a straight white male, must resign immediately to make way for a CIA Director that is a gay person of color. Everything else is just talk for Bill.” Another former senior intel official also criticized Burns for using the agency to meddle in domestic politics rather than protecting the country from serious foreign threats. “What is the head of our spy agency doing commenting on domestic law enforcement matters?” the former intelligence official asked. “It is the height of politicization of the intelligence community by the Biden admin.”... While intelligence agencies fail to protect our country, Biden’s White House is exploring new ways to surveil citizens, including hiring private companies to monitor and surveil “extremist chatter” by Americans to prevent further “insurrections.”"
Andrew Wallace on Twitter - "Chauvin immediately stood up and put his hands behind his back. Imagine what the world would be like if Floyd had done the same thing."
WATCH: Minneapolis Protesters Accost Truck Driver Following Conviction of Derek Chauvin - "the driver blared his horn to clear the street and proceed. The crowd blocked his way and began shouting at the driver and beating on his truck."
'We are never going to be satisfied': BLM Minneapolis responds to Chauvin verdict - "Black Lives Matter protestors in New York were more confrontational, telling White people enjoying dinner outside to "stay the f**k out of New York!" They continued, "We don't want your money; we don't want you here, we don't want your f**kin' taquerias owned by f**kin' White men". The crowd can be heard cheering along."
When they openly admit it
After the Floyd verdict: the US is not a racist dystopia - "People are right to be relieved that justice for Floyd was seen to be done. At the outset some expressed annoyance that a trial was necessary. As the ‘comedienne’ Chelsea Handler shared on Twitter: ‘So pathetic that there’s a trial to prove that Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd when there is video of him doing so.’ But principles like the presumption of innocence and due process are the bedrock of our legal system, and should not be jettisoned just because activists and celebrities think they know best. Chauvin’s trial was televised, and those who watched with an open mind found a case that was more complex than the details shown in the almost 10-minute-long video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck. Floyd’s heart disease and drug intake, for instance, weren’t known to us back then. Yet the case was also, at its core, simple – Chauvin used excessive force that killed Floyd. The length of time Chauvin held Floyd down, and his refusal to accept help from paramedics and others nearby, were particularly damning facts... for those seeking to gain political advantage from Floyd’s death, the trial’s outcome only proves what they’ve asserted all along – that the US is a ‘systematically racist’ country. It is this political context around the trial that means the verdict elicits a second type of relief – the unhealthy kind that we should not be proud of. That is the relief that comes from knowing that a guilty verdict on all three counts means we will not see rioting and arson in Minneapolis and other cities. The threat of widespread violence, repeating the kind of destruction witnessed across the country over the past year, hung heavily over this trial. It was a warning from the mob: we already know what the correct verdict is, and we’ll go on the warpath if you do not reach that verdict. The threat of violence was evident from the start of Chauvin trial, and seriously risked corrupting the process. During jury selection, many potential jurors expressed fears that they could face attacks or other repercussions. Minneapolis city officials took the unusual step of announcing a $27million settlement with Floyd’s family before the trial, suggesting to jurors that they believed Chauvin was guilty and wouldn’t defend an acquittal. Indeed, once selected, jurors came under tremendous pressure to reach a guilty verdict. Jurors entered a courthouse protected by the National Guard, with protests and violence on the surrounding streets. During the trial, police shot a young black man, Daunte Wright, in the nearby Brooklyn Center area, causing more public anger and more stress among jurors. A witness for the defence had his house attacked – signaling to jurors that they might be next. And Democratic Party representative Maxine Waters flew into Minneapolis to call on protesters to get ‘confrontational’ if Chauvin is acquitted – that is, to riot. The judge rightly criticised Waters, saying her intervention could lead to a mistrial on appeal (which could still happen, although it is probably unlikely)... it was striking in the run-up to the verdict how politicians and other authorities were quietly acquiescing to the possibility of rioting and violence. Buildings were boarded up in cities around the country, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, with helicopters hovering overhead. No major figure denounced this possible violence. Instead, the message was: of course BLM and other protesters will burn things down if Chauvin is acquitted – that’s only right, we deserve it. Back in June of last year, Minneapolis’ cowardly mayor, Jacob Frey, ordered police to vacate and allow protesters to burn down a precinct. In that same spirit, political leaders around the country today were demoralised and resigned to rioting. Apparently our elites don’t feel they have the moral authority to tell others not to riot (at least when it comes to race – they are strangely more robust when it comes to Trump supporters in the Capitol building). In this way, they greenlight the destruction of businesses, many of them minority-owned, effectively normalising it as a way of doing politics... in his remarks following the verdict, Biden struck a negative tone, emphasising the view, popular among Democrats and BLM, that Floyd’s death shows that the US remains thoroughly racist... Vice-president Kamala Harris, speaking before Biden, also stressed a never-ending racism... exaggerations by politicians and media have led to erroneous understandings of race and the police in the US, especially among the left: a recent survey found that 54 per cent of the ‘very liberal’ believe that 1,000 or more unarmed black people are killed annually by police. The number in 2019 was 27... Biden may say he desires ‘unity’, but many Americans will hear him effectively calling them racists – an accusation that will not be appreciated. It is not helpful when Biden and Harris borrow critical race theory (CRT) jargon about the ‘long history of systemic racism’. Such talk avoids a close look at the actual history of race relations in America. In particular, it erases any sense of progress over the years. It is especially notable that CRT acolytes rarely mention Martin Luther King and the civil-rights movement, as that universalist movement is the antithesis of their vision of permanent racial divisions."
Chauvin sentence just a 'slap on the wrist,' Floyd family says - "Relatives of George Floyd slammed the 22 1/2-year sentence imposed on former police officer Derek Chauvin Friday as a “slap on the wrist.”... the Rev. Al Sharpton said Chauvin’s punishment is “not justice because George Floyd is not alive.”"
One wonders what sort of penalty would've been enough for them - given that the sentencing guideline was 12.5 years
Former police officer Derek Chauvin appeals conviction for murdering George Floyd - "The former Minneapolis police officer found guilty of murder in the killing of George Floyd has appealed his conviction, saying among other things that the jury was intimidated by ongoing, sometimes violent protests and prejudiced by excessive pre-trial publicity... several potential jurors expressed concerns during jury selection that if Chauvin were acquitted, they would fear for their personal safety and worried about more violence. He said several of them indicated they were intimidated by the security measures implemented at the courthouse to protect trial participants from protesters. The filing also cited the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by a police officer in nearby Brooklyn Center during Chauvin's trial. It says jurors should have been sequestered after selection to avoid being prejudiced by reports of that slaying. It also cited a $27 million US settlement reached between the city and Floyd's family that was announced during jury selection, saying the timing of that prejudiced jurors in the case. Mohrman cited several instances of alleged prosecutorial misconduct, claiming untimely sharing of evidence, failure to disclose and document dumping by the government. The filing also says the judge did not apply the sentencing guidelines correctly and should not have included "abuse of a position of authority" as an aggravating sentencing factor for the former police officer."
Local Minnesota news revealed everything but names in exposing Chauvin jurors identities - "An article written by the Star Tribune in Minnesota that has revealed copious amounts of personal information but falling short of revealing names and addresses has many wondering if the article has put the jurors selected for the Derek Chauvin trial in danger... Judge Peter Cahill said in response "I'll give you that Congresswoman Waters may have given you something on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned," adding that "I wish that elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner that is disrespectful to the rule of law and the judicial branch and our function.""
DC National Guard ordered to be unarmed before Chauvin verdict - "During high threats of violence throughout the country in response to the outcome of the Derek Chauvin trial, DC Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser stripped hundreds of DC National Guardsmen of their firearms after sending a directive to the secretary of the army requesting for them to be unarmed."
WATCH: Andy Ngo explains to Fox News why the unrest and autonomous zones continue after the Chauvin verdict - "Well, I'm not surprised that they're not going away. These autonomous zones, whether they be in Minneapolis or Seattle, really have nothing to do with the people (or) causes they (are) supposedly named after. It's about flexing control against the state, intimidating the public. And in this case in Minneapolis’s George Floyd autonomous zone, it's actually literal shakedown. They have a list of 24 demands and that includes hundreds of thousands of dollars (and) the political prosecution of their enemies among other demands... Somebody died when I was on the ground in CHAZ in Seattle last year, there were six shootings in two murders and an attempted rape. In regards to what people can do, if you live there… you would think that you would turn to your elected officials to bring some type of control over the anarchy. But we've been going on for a year now. These weak leaders who have just allowed this to go on because they're terrified"
8 Righteous Reasons Why Derek Chauvin Deserves a New Trial –– and That Juror's Shirt Is Only One of Them - "2. Change of Venue
The trial court judge, Peter Cahill, though asked, refused to change the location of the trial from Minneapolis, the scene of riots, protests, looting, and arsons all in the name of George Floyd. The judge reasoned that all Minnesotans had heard about and watched the Chauvin–George Floyd video, so why not stay in the riot zone? Two jurors were dismissed for living in a riot zone and an alternate juror later said she was uncomfortable about the riots near the courthouse. It was tantamount to the judge reasoning, “Well, he won’t get a fair trial anywhere, so why don’t we give him a trial in the place where he’s least likely to get a fair one.” Ridiculous...
4. Juror Sequestration
The only thing sequestered was Judge Cahill’s powers of observation. Cahill apparently wasn’t up to speed on these new-fangled things called smartphones that feed users endless notifications about stories of all kinds. Jurors were told not to read and watch the news about the trial, but were never told to put away their smartphones until jury deliberations started... The judge gave the jury a three-day weekend leading up to the deliberations in order to, paraphrasing here, give them a last free period to fully appreciate the complexity of the case. That weekend there were violent riots over another police killing and Rep. Maxine Waters called for more riots if the jurors didn’t vote “guilty, guilty, guilty.” And minutes after she spoke, two National Guard troops were shot at. The case that was so “complex” took jurors less than ten hours to find him guilty, guilty, guilty of all charges. Chauvin’s lawyer had requested the jury be sequestered for the entire trial. It’s a tough call for a judge to do that to people, but justice probably demanded it.
5. Prosecutorial Misconduct
It turns out that you can’t call the defense attorney a liar over and over and over again in closing arguments, as prosecutor Jerry Blackwell did in his rebuttal. The outrageous ploy – the last thing heard from attorneys before the case went to the jury – prompted multiple objections by Chauvin’s attorney, an admonition from the judge (during closing arguments!), and a move for a mistrial, which was denied. Blackwell, a civil attorney, apparently didn’t know – or didn’t want to know – that you can’t do that in a criminal trial. Attorney Andrew Branca counted more than 20 times Blackwell called Eric Nelson a liar or similar characterization in his closing argument. But, though that’s bad, prosecutors showed bad faith in their document dumps during the trial. The 14 attorneys plus their unlimited staffs had months to provide documents to the defense. Their witness list contained 400 names, which no single attorney could cull through. They dumped tens of thousands of documents on the defense during the trial, and another 5,000 that were released during the defense case on the sole attorney. One of the dumps came the night before a pivotal medical expert testified. Judging by Nelson’s demeanor the next day, he must have stayed up all night preparing for the witness.
6. George Floyd’s Drug Dealer
The man riding in the Mercedes SUV passing fake $20 bills on the day George Floyd died was none other than Floyd’s purported drug dealer, Morries Hall. Hall, a man who had his own legal problems for obvious reasons, was likely the one who provided Floyd the combination fentanyl and meth tablet seen in Floyd’s mouth and in the squad car and Floyd’s car during his arrest. Hall was allowed to skip testifying in the case, taking the fifth because he might have been implicated himself in Floyd’s death.
7. Jury Instructions
Eric Nelson says in his motion that the judge in the case “failed to accurately reflect the law with respect to unintentional second degree murder, third degree murder and authorized use of force.” Jury instructions — not that this jury actually internalized them — are the Rosetta Stone of how jurors go about the job of applying the law to the facts of a case. This case was so complex that even the charges didn’t make sense. The third-degree murder charge was still in dispute between the trial judge, an appeals court, and the state supreme court
8. Crying and Cumulative Witnesses
The other two bases for a new trial cited by Nelson were the judge’s failure to require that sidebar meetings between attorneys and the judge be put on the record and allowing the prosecutors to ask leading questions in their direct examination of their witnesses, which is a legal bozo-no-no."
Here’s a roundup of some of the most notable reactions to the Chauvin verdict as we wade through continued cultural madness - "The real story is how the media and liberal activists (but I repeat myself) tried to influence the direction of this trial for months, and what they plan to do next. Case in point: Biden and Harris celebrating the outcome of the trial on national TV... Some people thought this was good because – like the Pharisees once said – it's better "that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." But of course the woke destructionists won't be dissuaded by such a "peace" offering"