Frustration is inevitable when it seems like there is no justice. The maximum punishment for being convicted of third-degree murder in Minnesota is 25 years imprisonment. OK, I cheated, as I looked that up, but George Floyd was only looking for some air to breathe. George needs to have some justice and these charges are a joke, as they will probably be pleaded down to some minor offense and the officer that took his life will spend minimal time in a country club prison. This needs to be a first-degree murder charge and the other three officers who idly stood by and watched George die also need to be charged. Hey why stop there, the district attorney that filed this unjust charge should be fired for incompetence.
Why does nothing ever change? Is it a sin to have black skin? The Nazis engaged in sterilization experiments with the Jews, trying to spay them like they were unwanted animals. It is no less cruel to step on the neck of a handcuffed man and choke the life out of him. This was like a lynching and George may not have had his body splayed out, but the officer killed him and the others just stood there watching. You would think that after so many lives were lost due to the coronavirus being sprayed around in the air, that life would be more precious.
Written for Linda G. Hill’s Stream of Consciousness Saturday where the prompt is to use any of these words spay/splay/spray.
Yes to these words. I’m just gobsmacked, death sentence for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20.00 note.
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Yes Paul. This is so dreadful 😢
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Thank you Christine, injustice is so vile.
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Sadly I believe our government is behind all of this unrest.
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I share that view Christine.
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God help us Paul.
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Hoping for that, it does seem to be abating, but only through repression.
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She makes a good point.
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Very much so.
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We definitely have poor leadership.
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Non-existent 😡
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Very unsettling.
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Yes.
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Well said Jim. Some of the conversations I’m hearing people seem more concerned about the businesses being burned down. In my opinion that’s just burying their head in the sand and not acknowledging the root cause of the problem. Continual police violence towards African Americans. George Floyd DIED. HE didn’t lose a business he lost his life – murdered by police. This has affected me deeply.
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Hatred is a powerful force and every time this happens, we never learn from the mistakes that we made.
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It sure is Jim. 😢
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God, I hope they don’t pleaded down the charge. I hadn’t even thought about that. The training and screening of law enforcement people are seriously messed up for so many lives to be taken so violently with no excuse. I go back and forth between trying to understand how this could happen and being traumatized. I can only imagine how this trauma effects African Americans. Thank you for writing about George Floyd.
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Thanks JoAnna. It has taken over the coronavirus news and it is constantly on my mind.
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Mine, too.
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I have to turn off the news recently because it makes me cry.
The song that comes to mind is “Black Tie White Noise”:
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David Bowie could do it all.
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He could. That song. Has a powerful message
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well said
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Thanks Pete.
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Police officers don’t seem to have to obey the same rules or suffer the same consequences as the rest of us.
As I understand it, the other officers present twice “requested” that the cop in question remove his knee from the victim’s throat and he refused. What the hell was that, professional courtesy? Why didn’t they force the issue?
That’s just the most recent of several high profile racially motivated killings and incidents.
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I can understand some rules being different, but the police should not be murdering the people that they are supposed to protect. You are right Fred, as the cops that break the law need to be punished.
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I just read that the cop and the victim worked together at a nightclub. I wonder if there is more to the story of why the cop willfully murdered Floyd? Was there bad blood between them and the cop used this opportunity to kill? All of this needs to come out in the prosecution. Not only does Chauvin need to be charged but the others as accessories. Look at the law.
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This is so terrible and you may be right about there being something more to this story.
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💚💚💚 to this post!!
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Thanks for the Eco-friendly hearts Ray.
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This was an absolute disgraceful tragedy. It’s not as if the air we breathe at the moment is good for us but at least they could have given him the chance!
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I don’t think that I will see an end to hatred in my life time.
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