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No, the Derek Chauvin Trial Isn't a Referendum on American Racism
Townhall.com ^ | March 31, 2021 | Ben Shapiro

Posted on 03/31/2021 8:06:29 AM PDT by Kaslin


Source: Screenshot via Fox 9

Since the death of George Floyd, our esteemed media, as well as their Democratic allies, have suggested that Floyd's alleged murder is representative of broader American white supremacy, that Floyd's experience with law enforcement is indicative of how American police pose an existential threat to black Americans. They have offered no evidence for this proposition. Not a shred of evidence has been presented to suggest that former police officer Derek Chauvin's actions the day of Floyd's death were motivated by race. Not a shred of evidence has been presented to suggest that black Americans live at threat of extermination from whites or police officers: As of 2013, according to Reuters, a black person's chances of being murdered by a white person were 5 in 1 million, and according to The Washington Post database of police shootings, as of 2019, a black person's chances of being shot by the police while unarmed were approximately 3 in 10 million.

But facts don't matter when you're pressing forward a narrative.

Now that Chauvin is on trial for Floyd's murder, the facts will once again become secondary to the narrative. Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., said that police reform is dependent on Chauvin's conviction: "If there was ever a case that you can just not argue, it is this one. This trial has got to come out the right way, and we have to deliver." Floyd family lawyer Benjamin Crump stated, "Today starts a landmark trial that will be a referendum on how far America has come in its quest for equality and justice for all."

That's simply not true.

Bass, Crump and the rest of the establishment media assume that Chauvin's case is clear-cut -- that nobody could possibly vote to acquit. The fact pattern, however, presents serious issues for the prosecution. Chauvin has been charged with second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. All three charges are a challenge.

The prosecution first has to show beyond a reasonable doubt that Floyd's death was caused by Chauvin's actions. But the autopsy report shows that Floyd had fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system and had a serious heart problem, and that Chauvin's neck hold did not in fact cause damage to Floyd's trachea. That means that while Chauvin's neck restraint may have contributed to Floyd's death by ratcheting up his blood pressure, for example, it's uncertain that it caused Floyd's death more than, say, the excited delirium from which Floyd may have already been suffering.

Second-degree murder requires that the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin unintentionally killed Floyd while committing a felony -- in this case, felony assault. But felony assault requires "intentional" infliction of bodily harm -- that Chauvin wanted to hurt Floyd, not just use a suppression tactic already greenlit by the Minneapolis Police Department.

Third-degree murder -- depraved-heart murder -- doesn't actually seem to fit the crime here, since it requires proving beyond a reasonable doubt that Chauvin acted in a way "eminently dangerous to others." Others -- plural. Usually, depraved-heart murder applies to someone who fires a gun into a crowd, not a person who targets an individual.

Second-degree manslaughter requires that the prosecution prove that Chauvin acted with "gross negligence." But such gross negligence would have to show that Chauvin should have known that his behavior might cause Floyd's death -- an unlikely expectation, since the Minneapolis Police Department actively taught neck holds of the type Chauvin used, and which Chauvin applied only after Floyd resisted arrest and refused to be confined to the back seat of a police car.

The Chauvin case, then, is a legally complex one. But such complexities have been abandoned in favor of narrative. Should Chauvin be acquitted, we are likely to hear that America has proved its racism once again. The only thing that has already been proved, however, is that the "America as white supremacist" lie will remain the media's dominant narrative, no matter the data.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: benshapiro; chauvintrial; georgefloyd

1 posted on 03/31/2021 8:06:29 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

My prediction: This goes the same way as the Zimmerman trial, which exposed just how much difference there is between a trial by jury and an MSM fueled trial by public opinion.


2 posted on 03/31/2021 8:10:00 AM PDT by cuban leaf (We killed our economy and damaged our culture. In 2021 we will pine for the salad days of 2020.)
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To: Kaslin

Floyd....sick of making heroes out of druggies.


3 posted on 03/31/2021 8:10:38 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: All

I think it’s important for race relations in this country that Chauvin gets acquitted of all charges. A lot of people need to learn a real lesson in this country or we will continue to hear their endless whining about white supremacy


4 posted on 03/31/2021 8:11:19 AM PDT by escapefromboston (Free Assange )
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To: Kaslin

Ratcheting up his blood pressure...Just getting caught did that without even touching the guy.


5 posted on 03/31/2021 8:12:19 AM PDT by Sacajaweau
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To: Kaslin

“..Not a shred of evidence...” However, the media and leftist politicians have done a masterful job of painting the trial as evidence that police, all police are raciest.


6 posted on 03/31/2021 8:14:59 AM PDT by elpadre
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To: escapefromboston

100%


7 posted on 03/31/2021 8:17:56 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy ("I see you did something -- why you so racist?")
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To: Kaslin
"...Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., said that police reform is dependent on Chauvin's conviction: "If there was ever a case that you can just not argue, it is this one. This trial has got to come out the right way, and we have to deliver."..."

This statement, by a federal legislator, is a consummate denial of Chauvin's Constitutional right to a fair trial.

8 posted on 03/31/2021 8:22:10 AM PDT by budj (Combat vet, 2nd of three generations.)
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To: budj
This statement, by a federal legislator, is a consummate denial of Chauvin's Constitutional right to a fair trial.

But he is white so he has no such right.

9 posted on 03/31/2021 8:27:45 AM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: 17th Miss Regt

He has already been judged by the BLM crowd.


10 posted on 03/31/2021 8:41:21 AM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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To: Kaslin

I am not generally a big fan of Ben Shapiro. I do give him his due for a sharp intellect and ability to cut down liberals with incisive commentary. This article provides a similar service in breaking down what hurdles the prosecution must overcome in order to prove their case in the 3 different charges lodged against Chauvin. This is the best article I’ve read with these issues stated in a clear manner so a non-legal mind can see how this has turned from a prosecution to a persecution. I can only hope that Chauvin’s defense team is at least half as clear in their case and how they expose this for the jury.


11 posted on 03/31/2021 8:44:29 AM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't.)
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To: Sacajaweau

Evidence! Evidence! We don’t need no stinking evidence.


12 posted on 03/31/2021 8:47:03 AM PDT by Vehmgericht (12)
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To: Kaslin

As others here have said, the brief Fox News Radio news on the hour again is saying “....in the trial over the killing of George Floyd” instead of the correct “over the death of George Floyd.”

The trial supposedly can use such physical evidence reports as the autopsy which detailed the cause of death which was from heart and breathing problems exacerbated by the large amount of narcotics found in his bloodstream. People die from fentanyl from time to time in all urban areas around the country.

It was not from breathing obstruction caused by the knee on his neck.

And how did he somehow take some good deep breaths and declare “I can’t breathe” for people in the crowd to hear and use on placards?


13 posted on 03/31/2021 8:53:32 AM PDT by frank ballenger (End vote fraud, harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: Sacajaweau

heroes out of druggies....

And I consider it idolatry from Pelosi, Nadler and the others to kneel on the marble floor and honor Floyd in a ceremony.
How is that not “every knee shall bend” but to a drug using felon?


14 posted on 03/31/2021 8:55:43 AM PDT by frank ballenger (End vote fraud, harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: frank ballenger

Perhaps, at some stage, someone accidentally details where the counterfeit $20 came from...that started this entire affair. (Hint: look at the nightclub that the guy worked at and their history)


15 posted on 03/31/2021 8:57:39 AM PDT by pepsionice
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To: pepsionice

Interesting. I really don’t know that background stuff. I stop reading after the BS first few lines praising the “victim” Floyd.

Counterfeit $20: What if the government had pushed the woman on currency through and made Harriet Tubman appear on them? Many old $20’s would be taken out of circulation (like trying to find quarters for laundromats and apartment coin machines when the pandemic started “no coins can be given out at this supermarket due to Federal shortage.”)

Counterfeiters would have been too late to update and retool, and afraid their $20s would stand out for store clerk scrutiny during the shortage, so Floyd might have had no bills to pass.


16 posted on 03/31/2021 9:05:17 AM PDT by frank ballenger (End vote fraud, harvesting,non-citizen voting & leftist media news censorship or we are finished.)
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To: Kaslin

The trial will provide the excuse for two-month long riots in inner cities, with the final crowning achievement being the introduction into congress of the Screw Whitey Act, or Reparations.


17 posted on 03/31/2021 9:09:39 AM PDT by I want the USA back (The nation is in the grips of incurable hysterical insanity, as usual.)
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To: Kaslin

No, the Derek Chauvin Trial Isn’t a Referendum on American Racism


Correct. It’s a Referendum on Demagoguery. They’ve already won round 1 and 2.


18 posted on 03/31/2021 12:17:47 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
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To: I want the USA back

Win or lose the looters need new shoes.


19 posted on 03/31/2021 12:32:02 PM PDT by Rurudyne (Standup Philosopher)
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