The death of George Floyd and the subsequent police officer trial that a jury later decided is responsible for Floyd’s death do not address the police culture that is really at the center of this problem. The officer who appeared in court was like a lamb brought to slaughter. He was the scapegoat.
One only wonders how many times the officer held others in the same way as Floyd.
Regarding the trial, the officer was charged with manslaughter and manslaughter in the second and third degree.
I can understand the manslaughter charge because there was nothing intentional in Floyd’s death; but why accuse him of murder? The officer may be responsible for Floyd’s death, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was murder if it wasn’t intentional.
It seems to me that the officer in question has been the scapegoat for everything that is wrong with police culture in certain areas of the United States. It is easier to make individual officers pay the price for their mistakes than police organization. People make mistakes, and sometimes these mistakes result in the death of another person.
Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every year as they have to deal with real bags of rats, and they risk ending up in prison if they make a mistake. Young men and women who are contemplating a career in law enforcement may think twice about entering this profession.
At Derek Chauvin’s trial, the defense tried to argue that Floyd’s death was caused by more than force applied to the victim’s neck while the officer was holding him. He would have thought that argument irrelevant since the officer had no intention of killing Floyd in the first place.
Is it more a case of death by accident than murder?
There was another case in Minnesota in which a law enforcement officer accidentally shot a young man. He went to grab his Taser and drew his gun by mistake. The result of this mistake was that the young man died. In that case, the officer was also charged.
It was a simple mistake. like a deer hunter who accidentally shoots and kills another deer hunter. It happens every year in New Zealand. As with Minnesota police officers, each case is handled on its merits and charges are brought, but a deer hunter who accidentally kills another is certainly not charged with murder.
What I’m trying to say is that the bar for charging someone with murder in America seems to be pretty low.
In Florida, around 2010 or 2011, 19-year-old Jennifer Mee agreed to date a young man she had contacted on Facebook with the intention of robbing him. His two male friends tried to rob him and it was during this process that the victim was fatally shot. Under Florida law, all participants in a fatal robbery are equally guilty of murder, whether or not they are directly involved in the fatality.
Jennifer was advised to defend the charges but was unsuccessful and was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. How is such a severe sentence justified when there are so many cruel murders committed that received the same sentence? in some cases a lighter sentence.
Is this justice?
When people talk about justice for the victim, what they really mean is revenge on behalf of the victim. Revenge or retribution, as it is sometimes called, is simply another form of hatred that ultimately accomplishes nothing.