Facts (in no particular order and I'll probably forget some):
There has been a conspicuous lack of footage from the moment he's led to the car and the time when he is restrained on the ground. (Supposition: I highly doubt those LEO's just got a wild hair to throw a compliant arrestee on the ground and forcibly detain him....something happened. It now appears we know what...he wasn't compliant.)
The kneeling on the neck thing is known and used by every patrol officer, pretty much everywhere. It's real friggin' hard to get up when you're handcuffed and someone is kneeling on your neck.
Ever watched Cops or LivePD? The "I can't breathe" thing is uttered by pretty much EVERY arrestee who has to be forcibly detained. (Supposition: LEO's don't even hear that anymore...all they hear is blah, blah, blah)
A disproportionate number of the interactions between LEO's and arrestees/detainees involve African Americans. They far outpace their percentage of the population. (Is this because they're committing most of the crime or because police presence is heavier in their areas. I have my own thoughts but for sake of this: chicken or the egg....doesn't matter)
According to the preliminary autopsy, Mr Floyd did not die from asphyxiation or strangulation, but rather from previous medical conditions. (Supposition: if he had a heart attack, it likely was as a result of the stress of the situation and the manner in which he was forcibly detained)
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Leaving facts, now just thinking out loud:
Had Mr Floyd elected to remain compliant, he would be alive today. That said, kneeling on a handcuffed subjects neck is utterly ridiculous. I don't believe those officers (there were three kneeling on him) intended to kill him, but their action's likely directly resulted in his death. At least one if not two are likely on the hook for a successful Manslaughter charge.
I would love to actually have a conversation with an intellectually honest broker from the black community.
I'll concede that part of their experience involves things like being stopped from broken taillights (more often) and formerly "stop and frisk", etc.
I'll concede that really sucks, it would piss me off if my regular interactions with LE were as a result of others' actions.
I'll concede that there seems to be some problems with how some forcible detentions go down.
I'll concede that LBJ and the Democrats have absolutely destroyed the woven tapestry of the black family, and that is utterly tragic.
White America did some horrible things to many of their ancestors.
And I'd probably be quite willing to concede lots of other things that are just not coming to mind right now.
Ahhh...but would i get the following concessions:
Their interactions with LE are in large (not total, but large) part due to the lawlessness of a disproportionate number of their population...to the point that to the outsider it APPEARS (!!!) to be something that is embraced by the culture.
Thus, their interactions with LE could be dramatically improved if that cultural viewpoint were to VISIBLY shift towards denouncing lawlessness.
That they have allowed the black family to be destroyed only to be replaced by Uncle Sugar, with all the associated ills of poverty and children born out of wedlock, marriage rates plummeting, etc, etc.
The single greatest problem their community faces right now is that they are killing each other by the hundreds every single week. How is that my fault?
White America has done more to atone for the sins of our ancestors than ANY other people in the history of humanity.
Just some thoughts that been rattlin' around in my melon today.