Posted on 05/08/2021 1:52:03 AM PDT by ransomnote
Note: A copy of the indictment against Chauvin et al. can be viewed here and the two count indictment against Chauvin can be viewed here.
WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Minneapolis, Minnesota, returned two indictments that were unsealed today. The first indictment charges former Minneapolis Police Department officers Derek Chauvin, 45; Tou Thao, 35; J. Alexander Kueng, 27; and Thomas Lane, 38, with federal civil rights crimes for their roles in the death of George Perry Floyd Jr.
The three-count indictment alleges that all four defendants, while acting under color of law, willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional rights, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Specifically, Count One of the indictment alleges that on May 25, 2020, Chauvin held his left knee across Mr. Floyd’s neck, and his right knee on Floyd’s back and arm, as George Floyd lay on the ground, handcuffed and unresisting, and kept his knees on Mr. Floyd’s neck and body even after Mr. Floyd became unresponsive. The indictment alleges that Chauvin’s actions violated Mr. Floyd’s constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer and resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.
Count Two of the indictment charges that Thao and Kueng willfully failed to intervene to stop Chauvin’s use of unreasonable force, resulting in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd. Finally, Count Three of the indictment alleges that all four defendants saw Mr. Floyd lying on the ground in clear need of medical care and willfully failed to aid him. The indictment alleges that by doing so, all four defendants willfully deprived Mr. Floyd of his constitutional right not to be deprived of liberty without due process of law, which includes an arrestee’s right to be free from a police officer’s deliberate indifference to his serious medical needs. The indictment alleges that this offense resulted in bodily injury to, and the death of, Mr. Floyd.
A separate, two-count indictment also charges Chauvin with willfully depriving a Minneapolis resident who was then fourteen-years-old of the constitutional right to be free from the use of unreasonable force by a police officer, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. Count One of this indictment alleges that on Sept. 4, 2017, Chauvin, without legal justification, held the teenager by the throat and struck the teenager multiple times in the head with a flashlight. The indictment alleges that this offense included the use of a dangerous weapon—a flashlight—and resulted in bodily injury to the teenager. Count Two of the indictment charges that Chauvin held his knee on the neck and the upper back of the teenager even after the teenager was lying prone, handcuffed, and unresisting, also resulting in bodily injury.
Both indictments charge violations of Title 18, United States Code, Section 242. 18 U.S.C. § 242 states that it is a crime for an official acting under color of law to willfully violate a person’s constitutional rights. If government employees, like police officers, use or misuse the power provided to them by their position, they are acting “under color of law.”
An indictment is merely a formal accusation of criminal conduct. The defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The charges announced today are separate from the Justice Department’s civil pattern or practice investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department that the Attorney General announced on April 21. The charges announced today are criminal, while the pattern or practice investigation is a civil investigation that will be conducted separately and independently from the criminal case, and will be handled by a different team of career staff from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The charges announced today are also separate from, and in addition to, the charges the State of Minnesota has brought against these former officers related to the death of Mr. Floyd. The federal charges allege different criminal offenses; specifically, they allege violations of the U.S. Constitution, rather than of state law.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan and Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk for the District of Minnesota commend the investigative efforts of the FBI and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in this matter, and thank the Minneapolis Police Department for its cooperation in the investigation.
The federal criminal cases are being prosecuted by Acting U.S. Attorney W. Anders Folk of the District of Minnesota, Special Litigation Counsel Samantha Trepel and Trial Attorney Tara Allison of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Samantha Bates, LeeAnn Bell, Evan Gilead, Manda Sertich and Allen Slaughter of the District of Minnesota.
"Show me the man, I'll show you the crime"
This tells me ALL I need to know about the United States Department of Jesters.
There is NOTHING wrong with a police officer subduing a subject by putting his knee on his back, (and that’s where his knee was, as evidenced by video) if he’s fighting being restrained. It doesn’t matter what color the subject is, white, black, brown, red, or yellow. And it certainly isn’t a civil rights violation, if the perp doesn’t happen to be white.
The jury was afraid of being killed or injured, or of more rioting, looting, and burning, if they found Chauvin not guilty; or some of them found him guilty just because he was white. There should have been a change in venue, but the prosecution and the judge were either afraid, or biased, or both. Chauvin sounds like he’s burned out, and who wouldn’t be? When a cop (or teacher, nurse, prison guard, or anyone who serves the public) gets burned out, they need to find another line of work.
The whole thing was a big fat mess. LORD, protect him and the others, in prison. And let the whole mess get overturned because of the above reasons. And LORD, please can we have some quality district attorneys next election? It’s so discouraging to see dishonest radicals making these decisions. We need revival across the land.
Looking alot like the Feds are considering a very real possibility that Chauvin’s conviction will be overturned on appeal, and they can’t have him just walking free...or the other three.
State can’t make it stick? The Feds will take over...
Time for us to take back our Nation...
LOL!
This is the first I have heard of a teenager being involved. Probably a separate incident.
Why wasn’t this applied to DA Kim Gardner for violating the civil rights of the McCloskeys?
Oh, that’s right, the double standard rule.
The McCloskeys are white, so nobody goes out to the riot for them. This is being done because Chauvin is white. I can’t see any other reason. The federal government is ran by a racist mob.
If this goes through the State of Minnesota plans to charge the other three cops with second degree homicide and recharge Chauvin with first degree homicide with a hate crime enhancer.
This is the very same Department of Just Us that is showing “concern” over the Arizona recount.
No sane person will work for the Minneapolis police department
Political prosecutions. We live in a banana republic runs by the criminal democrat party.
p
He’s now their whipping boy. They’ll dig back through all his cases to trump up charge after charge.
That couldn’t have been a more diverse group of cops - 2 whites, an Asian and a black. Surprised they’re going after the black one.
That is the plan. The the Feds and the State can get their own Police comprised of ANTIFA, BLM, and other criminals with a badge and gun. Just as the FBI and the National Socials under Hitler in Germany and the Soviet Union under Stalin did. The plan is working.
To all LEOs. Prepare your go bag now. Make plans for your getaway NOW! Set up networks to hide and protect LEOs and their families if they get involved in the shooting or death of a Black person.
IMMEDIATELY FLEE for your lives! You CAN’T trust the justice system to protect you. In fact it will DESTROY you.
Better to spend your life running/hiding than in prison.
Do it immediately, BEFORE you are charged. DON’T WAIT! RUN!
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