Perhaps, like me, you have been riveted by the emotional testimony of the witnesses in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer, Derrick Chauvin, in the alleged murder of George Floyd. In addition to the gut wrenching reaction of the eyewitnesses to the detention and subsequent death of Mr. Floyd at the hands of Mr. Chauvin, I am fascinated by the workings of our justice system and the players within.
Videos of the incident, as captured by multiple sources including police body cameras, have been admitted as evidence and shown repeatedly. They show the brutal takedown of Mr. Floyd by Chauvin and other police officers. The most shocking - and damning - segment lasts for over 9 minutes and shows Chauvin with his knee jammed into the neck of a prostrated, handcuffed Floyd while Floyd eventually pleads for his life. In addition, witnesses can be heard in the background screaming for Chauvin to release him before it's too late.
9 minutes and :29 seconds.
Then it was too late . . .
I suppose that, beyond the tactics of the defenses' strategy that former Officer Chauvin was just doing what he was trained to do, is how obvious it is, at least to me, that he and the other police officers completely lacked any sense of human compassion. To them, Mr. Floyd was just another drugged out, big, dumb nigger that had to be taken down!
Before anyone gets the idea that his is another police bashing screed, I want to give some background: my father was a law enforcement officer who loved what he did. He came to the profession later in life but I believe that he identified with it more than any other. He loved it. And, with total honesty, I say that one of the things that he loved most about it was the sense of power that came with the authority he was given. I most also admit, at times, it made him ugly. NO ONE questioned his authority! I mean he could be a real prick that way. I hated it and so did my mother. But, unfortunately, my father did not corner the market on that behavior among the police. It was VERY much in evidence with George Floyd - he had the audacity to resist.
However, in his soul, my father was also an honest, fair, and gentle man. He was willing to fight and die for his principals, the most important of which was to treat EVERYONE with the respect they deserve - regardless of creed or color.
This became evident to me when he took me to work with him one Thanksgiving many, many years ago. I must have been about 13 or 14 and my father's duties with the Bergen County Sheriff's Department brought him to the county's correctional facility where he functioned as a Correction's Officer (CO). I remember sitting with him and the other CO's at the Thanksgiving table, surrounded by hundreds of inmates. At one point, one of the inmates who was helping at the table, came over to me and said: "hey, your old-man is OK. He treats us all like human beings."
I'll never forget it. He didn't have to say anything. He didn't know me but, yet, somehow felt compelled to tell me that.
What I took from it is to NEVER lose your humanity, especially when you have authority over others. What makes us MOST human is COMPASSION.
Derrick Chauvin and the others ARE guilty, not only because they failed in their duty to protect and serve, but most egregiously, because they lost their humanity. . .
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