[FewsOrange]

https://statelaws.findlaw.com/minnesota-law/minnesota-second-degree-murder.html

Minnesota law prohibits intentional and unintentional killings under most circumstances. Those killings prohibited as second-degree murder include:

*Killing a human intentionally, but without premeditation (not thinking about or preparing for before)
*Killing a human while committing or attempting a drive-by shooting
*Causing someone’s death without intending the death of anyone, while committing a felony other than criminal sexual conduct (rape or sexual assault which would be first-degree murder) or a drive-by shooting
*Causing a death unintentionally, while intentionally inflicting or attempting to inflict great physical harm on the victim when the murderer is currently restrained by a protection order (including for domestic violence, harassment, divorce, or any similar protection order) and the victim was the protected party in that order

Third-degree murder in Minnesota is causing someone’s death by one of two ways:

*A depraved heart or mind murder, which places others in eminent danger of death and disregarding human life (such as shooting a gun into a crowd for fun, but not intending to kill anyone)
*Causing someone’s death by selling, giving away, or administering a Schedule I or II controlled substance (such as selling someone adulterated heroin that kills them)
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Second degree might be a stretch

[sphinx]

Second degree might be a stretch

Agreed. But if a jury fails to convict, that would be provocation for another round of rioting and virtue signaling. Ellison doesn't see a downside. Justice is secondary here. The primary purpose is to have democrats frothing at the mouth when they go to the polls, because a bad police killing in a democrat city in a democrat state is obviously Donald Trump's fault.

[Bonemaker]

“*Killing a human intentionally, but without premeditation (not thinking about or preparing for before)...”

Cop had 8-9 minutes to meditate/prepare for what he was doing.

[The people have spoken]

Hard to see how kneeling on someone who subsequently dies could be 2nd-degree murder while shooting someone dead (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Justine_Damond) is 3rd-degree murder.