A Question of Motive

 

From the first report of the George Floyd death, I was bothered by the lack of interest in Officer Chauvin’s possible motive for having his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes. With no such interest expressed, the political polemicists of BLM/Antifa had a field day ascribing it to the endemic racism of America showing itself by the merciless actions of a white cop. We now have a video of the actual arrest and, for me, it reveals a great deal.

First, we notice how strangely agitated Floyd is. He isn’t angry but terrified first of being shot which he repeats over and over again. He doesn’t seem to be actually resisting arrest but so frightened as to not be in control of his own movements. He is big and the cops have trouble moving him into the position that they need him to be. He never acts in an aggressive way to the cops but rather seems to be asking for some kind of help but he doesn’t really make much sense. A woman and a man were in the parked car with him and get out on the passenger side to the sidewalk. One of the cops is questioning the woman about Floyd and she puts her finger to the side of her head and rotates it around, the common sign one makes to imply that someone is crazy. As the cops struggle to move Floyd into their police vehicle, Floyd is just babbling fearfully and probably is exhibiting paranoid behavior (I can’t make such a clinical diagnosis). One of the things he says over and over is, “I had the COVID, I had the COVID.” I already knew this fact from one of the early news stories but it has been rarely mentioned since. Now we can see that he is telling Chauvin and the other police directly that he had been infected with the virus. Floyd continues to be trouble in a sort of passive-aggressive way. He isn’t fighting the police but he isn’t quite cooperating either. They want to get him into an ambulance but the ambulance hasn’t arrived yet. Then Chauvin and another officer quit trying to get him quiet in the back of the police cruiser and take him out and lay him flat on the ground with Chauvin holding Floyd’s head flat to the ground with his knee.

This new evidence suggests to me what I had suspected all along: Chauvin, knowing that he’s not got a dangerous criminal but a mentally ill man, wants to put him in an ambulance where he can be sedated. Chauvin must wait until the ambulance arrives. Knowing that Floyd is infected with COVID, Chauvin is fearful that Floyd, flailing about as he is, might sneeze on him or his other officers and infect them. Floyd’s fear that he can’t breathe is from the beginning because he had “the COVID.” Neither Chauvin nor the other officers are prepared to deal with the COVID threat and aren’t wearing masks. So Chauvin still waiting for the ambulance with Floyd yelling that he can’t breathe while sitting alone inside the police vehicle, let’s Floyd out and holds Floyd’s head flat to the pavement with his knee to stop Floyd from infecting him or the other officers. Floyd has been babbling so irrationally the whole time that Chauvin ignores the last complaints from Floyd. Floyd has a heart attack and dies while Chauvin is still waiting for the ambulance to arrive.

What difference does it make now? The lunatic monsters of BLM/Antifa have used the incident to accuse Western Civilization itself of racism and made that a pretext for destructive anarchy in the streets of numerous cities. We can’t rewind this. The madness happened because enough people in the media and government were willing to buy the total lie of racism. It also happened because enough people in the media and government have been fanning the fear of the COVID. Floyd terrified to the point of a nervous breakdown. Chauvin was frightened into an action that was unnecessarily cautious to protect against the virus and endangered a prisoner that was no threat.

This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

Regards,

Jim

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  1. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    I hate leaked evidence. But you make a lot of sense. But until there is a trial, here we sit, burning to the ground in assorted places. 

    • #1
  2. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    I hate leaked evidence. But you make a lot of sense. But until there is a trial, here we sit, burning to the ground in assorted places.

    Jules,

    Exactly so. A lesson to be learned but a really hard one.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #2
  3. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    James Gawron: From the first report of the George Floyd death, I was bothered by the lack of interest in Officer Chauvin’s possible motive for having his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes.

    I was worried about the failure of the Minneapolis PD to release all the dashcam and bodycam videos.

    • #3
  4. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    James Gawron: From the first report of the George Floyd death, I was bothered by the lack of interest in Officer Chauvin’s possible motive for having his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes.

    I was worried about the failure of the Minneapolis PD to release all the dashcam and bodycam videos.

    Paul,

    They were probably concerned, as routine, that the case not be tried in the media. Little did they know that the case would be tried in the history books.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #4
  5. The Scarecrow Thatcher
    The Scarecrow
    @TheScarecrow

    If he was just resting his leg on the head, just to keep it aimed away from himself and the other officers, that would seem to explain why there was zero trauma to the neck. It was not being used to crush anything or cause in any way the lack of breathing.

    But forever now people will say that he was suffocated by the cops.

    Here in this age of sooooooo much information at our fingertips, why do we still get everything wrong?

    • #5
  6. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    What the bodycam video shows is that all the race riots and “protests” were based on lies from the start.

    • #6
  7. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    That was a very informative video, and your analysis was also very good. 

    Why wasn’t the video released earlier? How long has it been since the Minneapolis PD and mayor have done anything sensible?

    • #7
  8. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Jim McConnell (View Comment):

    That was a very informative video, and your analysis was also very good.

    Why wasn’t the video released earlier? How long has it been since the Minneapolis PD and mayor have done anything sensible?

    The Minneapolis politicians still hasn’t released it, have they?

    It was leaked, probably by the police, or possibly by their defense attorneys.

    • #8
  9. Paul Stinchfield Member
    Paul Stinchfield
    @PaulStinchfield

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    Paul Stinchfield (View Comment):

    James Gawron: From the first report of the George Floyd death, I was bothered by the lack of interest in Officer Chauvin’s possible motive for having his knee on Floyd’s neck for 8 minutes.

    I was worried about the failure of the Minneapolis PD to release all the dashcam and bodycam videos.

    Paul,

    They were probably concerned, as routine, that the case not be tried in the media. Little did they know that the case would be tried in the history books.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I suspect that the PD was ordered to not release the videos–ordered by liberal politicians who want to suppress any evidence that conflicts with the narrative that police are racist oppressors.

    • #9
  10. DonG (skeptic) Coolidge
    DonG (skeptic)
    @DonG

    Antifa/BLM should step down, but it is our institutions that amplify them into a problem.

    • #10
  11. GrannyDude Member
    GrannyDude
    @GrannyDude

    The video is awful. because it shows how screwed up poor old George Floyd was. Nobody cares about that though.I hadn’t thought of the COVID connection. Floyd says (doesn’t he?) I have the COVID, not “I had COVID.” Or it was hard to tell.

    What would be very hard to explain, in this case, is why Derek Chauvin decided to “murder” this man in front of a whole bunch of people wielding cameras in 2020. Obviously (to me, anyway) he was doing something else, something he was reasonably sure he’d be able to explain later to his supervisors and anyone else who cared to ask.

    This may mean that Chauvin isn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer. Or it may mean that, given that Minneapolis PD was already seriously understaffed, that he hadn’t slept, and so his brain was a little foggy. The fact that his wife filed for divorce the day after he was indicted seems to indicate that maybe he’s….not exactly pounding on all the cylinders. Well, whatever. That’s what the trial is for.

    I’ve already seen this video framed as “look how frightened this poor man was!”  As if being freaked out is somehow a get-out-of-jail-free-card. 

    And evil racist (and apparently really, really stupid) Derek Chauvin will probably not be convicted of murder in any degree, because it was a dumb charge to begin with. Fortunately or unfortunately , depending on your point of view (Keith Ellison/ Talking to you, bub!)  the entire country has been persuaded that even the electric chair is too good for the likes of  evil Derek Chauvin, Sio if he’s acquitted…there willl  be another riot. Or, as the #BLM crowd hope, enough black people who interpret this as “he got away with it; let’s vote  Biden!” 

    But I’m, beginning, slowly, to wonder whether the whole left narrative is simply falling apart under the weight of its sheer absurdity? Surely, at some point, too many people are going to pipe up and say….

    ….uhhhhh.  No.  

    Just…no. 

    • #11
  12. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    The Scarecrow (View Comment):

    If he was just resting his leg on the head, just to keep it aimed away from himself and the other officers, that would seem to explain why there was zero trauma to the neck. It was not being used to crush anything or cause in any way the lack of breathing.

    But forever now people will say that he was suffocated by the cops.

    Here in this age of sooooooo much information at our fingertips, why do we still get everything wrong?

    Bruce,

    It appeared that Floyd was already in a state of agitation perhaps depression before the police had arrived. The two other occupants of the car may have been there to help him. He was in a continuous extreme agitated state from the moment the cops appeared. Terrified and exhausted under that knee he could easily have had a heart attack. This was the likely cause of death.

    When the facts don’t matter, only the narrative matters, how could we get anything right?

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #12
  13. Unsk Member
    Unsk
    @Unsk

    Good Analysis. Tragic situation.  This video puts the whole episode in a different light. The Police deal with similarly difficult and tragic situations multiple times a day. Do they handle them all in a perfect way. No. But would anyone?

    I sure the appropriate politically correct consolers who have been a tremendous improvement over the officers in controlling George Floyd. Not. 

    • #13
  14. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    The video is awful. because it shows how screwed up poor old George Floyd was. Nobody cares about that though.I hadn’t thought of the COVID connection. Floyd says (doesn’t he?) I have the COVID, not “I had COVID.” Or it was hard to tell.

    Granny,

    Yes, listen carefully he says, “I had the COVID, I had the COVID.” What if George was OK. Neither free of sin, nor angry, nor particularly smart. He was just OK. What if they terrified him because he had the COVID, so he was constantly fearing shortness of breath. When they finally get him into the back of the police car, I think that is when he starts talking about how he can’t breathe and actually says to cops, “don’t leave me alone.”

    It probably was then that Chauvin realized that Floyd wasn’t faking craziness but was really off his rocker. So he took him out of the police car, immobilized his head so he couldn’t cough or sneeze on anybody and waited for the ambulance to arrive.

    We all can use Gd Granny. It gives us perspective when we really need it. Maybe Floyd could have handled his COVID craziness better. Maybe Chauvin could have found a better way to deal with the fruitcake.

    Don’t quit your day job. You’re needed.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #14
  15. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    • #15
  16. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Sisyphus (View Comment):
    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Sisyphus,

    I’m not arguing.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #16
  17. Addiction Is A Choice Member
    Addiction Is A Choice
    @AddictionIsAChoice

    Frankly, I’m glad to see the video! I was beginning to think Derek Chauvin and George Floyd were sitting on a beach somewhere, having Mai-Thais courtesy of Keith Ellison who orchestrated the whole thing.

    • #17
  18. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Addiction Is A Choice (View Comment):

    Frankly, I’m glad to see the video! I was beginning to think Derek Chauvin and George Floyd were sitting on a beach somewhere, having Mai-Thais courtesy of Keith Ellison who orchestrated the whole thing.

    That would be the Coen Brothers adaptation.

    • #18
  19. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    “Chauvin was frightened into an action that was unnecessarily cautious to protect against the virus and endangered a prisoner that was no threat.”

    I have to disagree that Floyd was a ‘prisoner that was no threat’.  Maybe in hindsight he was no threat but imagine being a police officer in that situation.  

    • #19
  20. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    • #20
  21. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    We let that happen throughout the seventies and eighties and it got us here. Every one of our problem universities is dependent on federal funds for survival. Let’s put a few hundred CCP collaborators behind bars and keep defunding the worst institutions until better ones emerge.

    • #21
  22. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    GrannyDude (View Comment):
    Or, as the #BLM crowd hope, enough black people who interpret this as “he got away with it; let’s vote Biden!” 

    I doubt that the trial will be held before the election.

    • #22
  23. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    or members of DNC

     

    • #23
  24. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    We let that happen throughout the seventies and eighties and it got us here. Every one of our problem universities is dependent on federal funds for survival. Let’s put a few hundred CCP collaborators behind bars and keep defunding the worst institutions until better ones emerge.

    The feds have the power of the purse — why not use it?

     

    • #24
  25. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    We let that happen throughout the seventies and eighties and it got us here. Every one of our problem universities is dependent on federal funds for survival. Let’s put a few hundred CCP collaborators behind bars and keep defunding the worst institutions until better ones emerge.

    The feds have the power of the purse — why not use it?

     

    There’s not a chance that the Dems would go along with this.

    • #25
  26. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    “Chauvin was frightened into an action that was unnecessarily cautious to protect against the virus and endangered a prisoner that was no threat.”

    I have to disagree that Floyd was a ‘prisoner that was no threat’. Maybe in hindsight he was no threat but imagine being a police officer in that situation.

    Mister Bitcoin,

    Pursuing your line of reasoning, perhaps there was no good option. No matter what Chauvin did, Floyd might have had the heart attack. Floyd was claiming he couldn’t breathe already in the back of the police cruiser and he might have had the heart attack there if Chauvin had left him there. Chauvin might have handcuffed Floyd around a telephone pole and kept his distance waiting for the ambulance. Floyd might have had the heart attack there.

    There is a weird element of Greek tragedy about this. Floyd must die and Chauvin must end up in a position to be blamed for it. Perhaps one of our Ricochet police experts who have on the job experience can suggest a way out of this police dilemma of fate. I never much cared for fate. I prefer free choice.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #26
  27. Sisyphus Member
    Sisyphus
    @Sisyphus

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    We let that happen throughout the seventies and eighties and it got us here. Every one of our problem universities is dependent on federal funds for survival. Let’s put a few hundred CCP collaborators behind bars and keep defunding the worst institutions until better ones emerge.

    The feds have the power of the purse — why not use it?

    There’s not a chance that the Dems would go along with this.

    We’re populist authoritarians deploying storm troopers to do our evil bidding with the greatest of ease. What Dems? Did you ever hear of how Lincoln responded to a coming vote in the Maryland assembly on secession? Union troops helped Maryland’s legislature with their decision making. And when was the last time you saw Jim Acosta? Hmmm? Hmmm?

    • #27
  28. MISTER BITCOIN Inactive
    MISTER BITCOIN
    @MISTERBITCOIN

    Anyone watching the video has a pretty good idea why Floyd died, but ironically the medical deep state’s efforts to inflate the Chinese virus death counts may be problematic in the upcoming murder trials of the four Minneapolis police officers.

    Following guidelines of the vaunted CDC, defense lawyers could make a case that Floyd died of COVID as he had respiratory distress (“I can’t breathe”) and tested positive for the virus. As absurd as it sounds, the exaggerated COVID death count criteria chickens may come home to roost, in an unintended way.

     

     

    • #28
  29. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    “Chauvin was frightened into an action that was unnecessarily cautious to protect against the virus and endangered a prisoner that was no threat.”

    I have to disagree that Floyd was a ‘prisoner that was no threat’. Maybe in hindsight he was no threat but imagine being a police officer in that situation.

    He was a threat – any large irrational and erratic person the cops stop is a danger whether he means to be or not. 

    • #29
  30. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    MISTER BITCOIN (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (View Comment):

    James Gawron: This is a comedy of terrors. It isn’t Floyd or Chauvin who are in the wrong but our whole society that insists on spreading paranoia while it directs people away from a spiritual life that might insulate them a little from the effects of fear. BLM/Antifa are the embodiment of this madness. They are continuing to do harm to this society and everyone in it. We all need to calm the hell down and think clearly before we do any more damage. BLM/Antifa needs to stand down now and stop spreading their madness.

    BLM and Antifa were cocked and ready to respond to whatever pretext presented itself. They will stand down when and where they meet with a forceful response, arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment. Ten year prison sentences cools the ardor of mercenary rioters right quick.

    Unless they’re well connected, in which case they end up as college professors.

    We let that happen throughout the seventies and eighties and it got us here. Every one of our problem universities is dependent on federal funds for survival. Let’s put a few hundred CCP collaborators behind bars and keep defunding the worst institutions until better ones emerge.

    The feds have the power of the purse — why not use it?

     

    “We can’t allow government monies to supporthire felons who have attacked the government. Sorry.” 

    • #30
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