George Floyd: trial begins, family members kneeling for 8.46 minutes in front of the courthouse

Nine minutes and 29 seconds. This is the time that George Floyd he passed to the ground, already handcuffed. It is the process al policeman Derek Chauvin to tell again and with further, terrible, details the death of the man, on May 25, 2002 in Minneapolis. The prosecutor, Jerry Blackwell, shows the video that has already been around the world: “The video I’m about to show you is shocking.”

It’s not eight minutes and 46 seconds, it is nine minutes and 29 seconds the ones where George Floyd has the policeman’s knee on his neck to keep him from breathing.

“The police came,” explains the lawyer, “to answer a call from the market where Floyd tried to buy cigarettes with a counterfeit $ 20 bill. A minor offense ».

It is the reaction of the police which is excessive and which would not have been such if it had not been an African American, but a white person, who carried out the theft. Floyd died for this crime. The autopsy speaks of “murderWhich is also the charge, or rather the three charges: third degree murder, manslaughter and second degree manslaughter. He was killed by the police officer Derek Chauvin, with a history of violent behavior, at the limit of the regulation. He faces 75 years in prison.

The cop’s attorney also said he abided by the rules and attributed Floyd’s death to substance abuse such as Fentanyl. For the family, the only thing that killed him was the excessive violence.

Both lawyers said: “We are here to try Chauvin, not to impeach the Minneapolis police.” However, it is difficult not to look at a general attitude of the police. Recalling also the previous ones. The best known is the one for the murder of Rodney King a Los Angeles, with the cops acquitted and the protests in the streets. This time the African American community, but also the whole Black Lives Matter movement, are demanding exemplary condemnation. Some African American leaders, including Reverend Al Sharpton, knelt in front of the courthouse with Floyd’s family.

“We need justice for George. We need a sentence “ said the brother. It is a generalized need, not just of the family. All African Americans are demanding that there is no longer double justice: one for whites and one for other Americans. There is the issue of racism both implied and at the same time in the foreground.

The trial, which is expected to last about a month, is all live on Court TV, a specialized network, from the Hennepin County, armored courthouse, in Minnesota. However, the jurors are never framed, chosen after weeks of selections to understand how involved they were by the facts and with what prejudices they started against the accused or the victim. There are 12 plus two reserves, more women than men and mostly white. The other agents involved will be judged in the summer. The city of Minneapolis has already compensated the Floyd family with twenty-seven million, one of the highest figures ever given for police misconduct, which is not good news for cops because it sounds like an admission of guilt.

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