Powerline by Scott Johnson 2/28/2022
Last week the jury returned guilty verdicts in the federal trial of the three former Minneapolis police officers — the officers other than Derek Chauvin, who pleaded guilty — charged with violating the civil rights of George Floyd in the arrest that resulted in his death. The jury found Tou Thao and Alexander Kueng guilty on each of the two counts against them and found Thomas Lane guilty on the one count against him. The jury also found that the violations contributed to Floyd’s death, which will aggravate the sentences.
I commented on the closing arguments here, but it is Andrew McCarthy’s NRO column quoted in the update that applies to the case at this point. His column raises the question of the legal sufficiency of the charges.
By contrast, the prosecutors promptly issued a statement celebrating the convictions. The Department of Justice has posted it here.
My first thought upon learning of the verdicts was that it was a dark day for Minneapolis. Good luck signing up new police officers to perform the protective work that is necessary to maintain Minneapolis as a civilized city, or restore it to that status. The obvious question is who in his right mind would do it for the city. You have got to be kidding me.
More:
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2022/02/after-the-floyd-verdicts.php
