even a city as apparently stubborn as Minneapolis should have learned its lesson now
If anyone questions this, yes, it is my opinion. But then in this case, as in several others, I have seen lately, I don’t see how anybody could logically, after seeing the evidence, have a different opinion. Of course, I am sure somebody out there disagrees, but I have to admit feeling a great deal of satisfaction that the courts saw fit to find Derek Chauvin guilty as charged.
So what did they find him guilty of? The charges were three-fold. He was charged with second and third-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter. They haven’t announced the sentence yet, but it is expected to come out in about eight weeks, and his bail has been revoked. I think, although I could be wrong, that means that he is off the streets at least for the next eight weeks and then, of course, he will be in prison.
Let’s discuss for a minute what the sentence might be. Apparently, in Minnesota, 3-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 25 years, while 2nd degree carries 40, and 2nd class manslaughter cases up to 10 years. Now, that would be a maximum of 75 years, but we know he is unlikely to get all three. He might get up to 40 years. In any case, it certainly looks like he will never again be able to carry a badge and be in a position to kill anybody else as a cop.
Another policeman in 2019 got the recommended median sentence of 12 1/2 years. Personally, I think that would be a shamefully low sentence for murdering a man by basically standing on his neck for almost 10 minutes. I am not up on the details of the other death in 2019, but this one is pretty obvious.
This is the second time that Minneapolis has had to pay out over 20 million dollars, and sentence two policemen (1 each time) to prison based on proven and easily proven cases of murder. Surely, now, Minneapolis will come to its senses and do something about its policing culture and attitude. Personally, I think Ms. Potter needs to be charged with murder also because I don’t believe for one minute that she was “really confused” about which was her taser. That was an excuse she came up with afterward. However, if she is telling the truth, that just shifts the problem. Why the heck was someone that confusable considered worthy of being a trainer. She was supposedly a great leader and yet because she seems not to be able to tell the difference between something that weighs about 20 ounces or so with a 2-pound gun, a man is dead — one that was simply stopped apparently because he had an air freshener on his mirror which is something any on of us might have and not think twice about it.
Minneapolis has to come to its senses and clean up its police department, or I will be one of the first in line to advocate for the Federal Government to set the department aside and declare Martial law if necessary to clean it up.
https://www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/derek-chauvin-trial-george-floyd-death-verdict-2021-04-20/
