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Derek Chauvin Murder Trial

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Lieutenant: Kneeling on Floyd's neck 'totally unnecessary'

Kneeling on George Floyd 's neck while he was handcuffed and in the prone position was
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MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kneeling on George Floyd's neck while he was handcuffed and in the prone position was "top-tier, deadly force" and "totally unnecessary," the head of the Minneapolis Police Department's homicide division testified Friday.

"If your knee is on a person's neck, that can kill him," said Lt. Richard Zimmerman, adding that when a person is handcuffed in the prone position, "your muscles are pulling back ... and if you're laying on your chest, that's constricting your breathing even more."

Zimmerman also testified at Derek Chauvin's murder trial that once Floyd was handcuffed, he saw "no reason for why the officers felt they were in danger, if that's what they felt, and that's what they would have to feel to be able to use that kind of force."

"So in your opinion, should that restraint have stopped once he was handcuffed and thrown on the ground?" Prosecutor Matthew Frank asked.

"Absolutely," Zimmerman replied.
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I think this is extraordinarily damning to the defense. You've got to imagine that the jury is going to weigh this testimony very heavily in considering weather or not Chauvin's behavior was in-line with standard police procedures. It clearly was not.

This is the definition of 3rd degree murder in Minnesota

Whoever, without intent to effect the death of any person, causes the death of another by perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard for human life, is guilty of murder in the third degree and may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than 25 years.
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I think that this case easily satisfies that criteria and wouldn't rule out 2nd degree yet at all.
 
Eenie-Meenie said:
Ok, but why? This evidence speaks directly to the point that he murdered Floyd and showed intent by keeping his knee on Floyd's neck AFTER he was dead.
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I would respond, mentioning that I am unable to justify something I disagree with, but... you're on a 6 mo ban, anyway.
 
LogGrad98 said:
How many cops are bad cops? 50%? 80%? 99% 5%? This is very interesting to me to see responses on this, maybe I should make a poll. What percentage of cops do people think are just racist assholes baiting everyone they can so they can kill someone legally, and how many are just regular guys doing a very difficult job with poor tools and following their conscience the best they can?
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I would guess between 5 and 10% are the bad kind

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One Brow said:
Well, as usual, The Thriller and Eenie-Meenie are putting things in an extreme light, but if you go looking for videos of police training and seminars, you'll see a lot "us vs. them" and "establish control" being emphasized over more than "respect and protect".
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Common trend of us and them in any paramilitary organisation. Establish control and maintain the initiative are fundamentals in managing fluid high risk environments and confrontations.
 
LogGrad98 said:
How many cops are bad cops? 50%? 80%? 99% 5%? This is very interesting to me to see responses on this, maybe I should make a poll. What percentage of cops do people think are just racist assholes baiting everyone they can so they can kill someone legally, and how many are just regular guys doing a very difficult job with poor tools and following their conscience the best they can?
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Even if it is 5 or 10% it doesn't really matter when it's readily obvious the other 90-95% at best aren't willing to do anything about them and at worst aid and abet them.
 
candrew said:
Even if it is 5 or 10% it doesn't really matter when it's readily obvious the other 90-95% at best aren't willing to do anything about them and at worst aid and abet them.
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That is the big issue. I have talked to officers who claim there is no Blue Wall of Silence anymore, but whether that's true or not is another story, and I'm not sure how they'll gain the public trust to convince people it isn't true anymore, especially when all it takes is a few cops to not report things and for it to blow up in their faces.
 
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