The video is hard to watch: A Minneapolis police officer stands with his knee shoved into an African American man’s neck for at least five minutes, while bystanders plead with the officer and his partner to release the motionless man and check his pulse. We, the virtual onlookers, literally watch the man, identified as 46-year-old George Floyd, start to die as he lies beneath the officer’s leg.
It is an inexcusable tragedy made even worse by the fact that it was entirely preventable. The officer, identified as Derek Chauvin, could have released Floyd and detained him in his vehicle. Chauvin’s partner, Tou Thao, could have intervened instead of allowing Chauvin to continue suffocating Floyd. Instead, Thao blocked bystanders from stepping in to help Floyd while Chauvin stood with his hands in his pockets and his knee in Floyd’s neck.
Anger is not just warranted; it’s necessary.
Both Chauvin and Thao have been fired, along with two other Minneapolis officers who were at the scene, and the FBI has launched an investigation.
Protesters subsequently flooded the intersection where Floyd’s arrest had been filmed. Their outrage was justified, even if their subsequent actions were not.
The protest began peacefully, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune, but tensions escalated quickly. Protesters shattered the glass front door of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct station, threw rocks and water bottles at officers, and defaced squad vehicles. These protesters were taking out their anger on men and women who had nothing to do with Floyd’s death.
With that said, the Minneapolis Police Department must answer for Floyd’s death. The Minneapolis Police Department initially labeled his death, which occurred later that night at the hospital, as a “medical incident” in a press release. “Man Dies After Medical Incident During Police Interaction,” the police department’s original statement reads.
Anyone who watched the video of Floyd’s arrest knows that his death was not just a “medical incident.” So, why was it labeled as one?
There is simply no explanation that will suffice. Even if Police Chief Medaria Arradondo had not yet seen the Facebook video of Floyd’s death, we know for a fact that he had the body camera footage from both Chauvin and Thao. And if the Minneapolis Police Department watched Chauvin’s footage, they knew he stood on top of a man for five minutes while bystanders warned Chauvin that Floyd was no longer breathing. All of this information was available to the Minneapolis Police Department before the Facebook video of Floyd’s arrest went viral.
Furthermore, the Minneapolis Police Department has said that Chauvin’s knee-chokehold was contrary to police department procedures. So, why did he use it? Was this the result of improper or negligent training? Or is Chauvin solely to blame? Either way, the Minneapolis Police Department needs to take a hard look at its protocol.
The union that represents Minneapolis’s police officers has urged us to wait for the facts instead of rushing to judgment. But we have the facts. We have the tape. There is no excuse for what these men did, and trying to find one will undermine the vast majority of lawful and diligent law enforcement officers who serve their communities faithfully.
Floyd and his family deserve justice, and the officers involved should be prosecuted. Luckily for Chauvin and Thao, they’ll be afforded the due process that they denied Floyd.
