It's not that Floyd was innocent. He had a violent felony conviction.
It's that he was lying on his back in handcuffs, which triggers constitutional protections for the apprehending officers to be in a custodial role ("in custody") towards his safety.
This whole incident, the whole time HE WAS IN CUFFS ON THE GROUND, is on a single, uninterrupted, unedited, not-selectively-edited, 9-minutes long video taken by a bystander from 6 feet away.
Not an ambulance-chasing lawyer seeking a payout.
Not a BLM rabble-rouser showing something out of context.
The one policeman has his knee on the guy's neck for 9 straight minutes.
The guy on the ground says he can't breathe.
OK, lots of people lie about that.
He passes out.
He might have been faking that.
Except that an eyewitness who identifies herself as a first responder starts begging the cop to get off of him and check for a pulse.
He keeps the knee on the neck.
A puddle runs out from under the car. He's let go his bowels or bladder or both.
The now-ex-cop keeps the knee on the neck.
(At this point we are WELL into civil rights violations for continuing to use potentially deadly force, on an unconscious, handcuffed man. He is openly unable to resist.)
One of the other officers holding the guy down, checks for a pulse, and tells Mr. Kneecap, hey, he doesn't have a pulse.
("Not having a pulse" is what laypeople, not trained law enforcement officials, call "dead.")
HE KEEPS HIS KNEE ON THE NECK FOR ANOTHER TWO MINUTES.
This is not a Zombie Movie. Men without a pulse don't suddenly grab your gun and shoot bystanders.
This is way the Hell over the line on unreasonable force.
It is also a blatant civil rights violation. Once you are in custody, the police have the legal responsibility for your bodily safety.
Keeping your knee on the neck of a man, who one of your fellow officers just told you doesn't have a pulse, and not even pretending to check for a pulse yourself, let alone performing CPR, FOR TWO FULL MINUTES, is a violation of civil rights. IT takes four minutes for brain death, you know.
He even at one point, brandishes a can of mace at a bystander who tries to approach to help.
As well as being an exact fit for what is called "Depraved Indifference." It is the key element in 3rd degree murder in Minnesota state law.
And it's all captured live on uncut video as it happens in real time, on a busy street, fro six feet away, in front of several (white) witnesses, too.
So blather all you want about Mike Brown, all you trolls on this and other threads.
This situation, and the evidence for it, are TOTALLY different.
“It’s that he was lying on his back in handcuffs, which triggers constitutional protections for the apprehending officers to be in a custodial role (”in custody”) towards his safety.”
Precisely!
This was filmed on multiple cameras. The police had him under control.
We will need to see how the fact that both men were bouncers at the same club impacts this case. (Something else funny going on here!)