Free Republic

A federal grand jury just indicted the other three officers present at George Floyd’s arrest. Why is the Justice Department involving itself in this local police matter?Last month, when Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second- and third-degree murder, most Americans believed his sentencing would end a year-long national ordeal. Footage of Chauvin restraining George Floyd as he died was widely publicized last summer, with a predictable—and memorable—result. Although Chauvin was convicted by a jury, that decision was pre-empted by the constant menace of burning cities, gruesome threats of violence, massive corporate marketing campaigns, public statements by members...

The Biden Administration telling Israel to "de-escalate" as Palestinians fight Israeli police, US unemployment up last month and California's population down since last year but first... Three people arrested for entering the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho today when they didn't wear masks... Under 40 year olds to be offered an alternative to the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in the UK... Germany objecting to a US proposal to waive patent protections for COVID-19 vaccines... The World Health Organization granting emergency approval for China's Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine... Pfizer now wants the Food and Drug Administration to grant full approval of its...

A federal grand jury has indicted the four former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd’s arrest and death, accusing them of violating the Black man’s constitutional rights as he was restrained face-down on the pavement and gasping for air, according to indictments unsealed Friday.The three-count indictment names Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, J. Kueng and Tou Thao. Specifically, Chauvin, Thao and Kueng are charged with violating Floyd’s right to be free from unreasonable seizure and excessive force.

Derek Chauvin and three other former Minneapolis police officers involved in George Floyd's death were indicted Friday on federal civil rights charges. The three-count indictment alleges Chauvin, Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane deprived Floyd's rights when they saw him lying on the ground "in clear need" of medical care, but "willfully failed to aid Floyd, thereby acting with deliberate indifference to a substantial risk of harm."

The human symbol of why Derek Chauvin needs a new trial in the death of George Floyd is now holding up his hands, backing away, and claiming, hey, don’t look at me, I don’t even remember that George Floyd t-shirt I wore to a Washington, D.C., rally. But wait, there’s more. Juror #52, Brandon Mitchell, a podcaster and basketball coach, was outed recently as a BLM supporter who went to Washington, D.C., for the anniversary of the March on Washington – an event whose speakers featured (naturally) Al Sharpton, along with George Floyd’s brother and sister and other people who...

Yesterday, we called out Morning Joe for mentioning George Floyd six times but failing to breathe a word about the Chauvin trial juror who wore a BLM hat, and a T-shirt emblazoned "Get Your Knee of Our Necks" to a protest rally in Washington DC that Al Sharpton's organization had billed as the 'Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks,' and at which several members of the Floyd family spoke. Before being selected as a juror, that person, Brandon Mitchell, denied to the judge having attended a demonstration about police brutality. Morning Joe continued its unconscionable blackout of the...

The attorney for Derek Chauvin, Eric Nelson, has filed motions for a new trial and for a hearing to impeach the verdict based on jury misconduct (a so-called Schwartz Hearing under Minnesota law). Nearly a dozen bases are cited for a new trial, but not the recent revelations about juror Brandon Mitchell wearing a BLM t-shirt at a rally and opining that people should get on juries “to spark some change.”The Associated Press lists the reasons the motions cites for a new trial:Nelson cited many reasons in his request for a new trial. He said Judge Peter Cahill abused the...

A frustrated police officer whose TikTok message on the treatment of law enforcement went viral told "Fox & Friends" Tuesday that he's "had enough" of the negative portrayal of policing. Major Kelvin Dingle, operation commander at the Morehouse School of Medicine Department of Public Safety in Atlanta, Georgia, explained what led him to post the passionate video where he proclaimed he's "so tired" of being viewed as bad. "It seems like every night we go to sleep or every morning we wake up, there's something negative that's portrayed about law enforcement," Dingle said. "I was riding home and I was...

<p>Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted last month of killing George Floyd, filed a request Tuesday asking for a new trial.</p><p>Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, alleged that juror misconduct and pretrial publicity in part led to Chauvin’s conviction for second- and third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd's death last year.</p>

Attorney Eric Nelson has filed a motion for a new trial for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the death of George Floyd. Nelson filed the motion on the grounds of juror misconduct, and that the court abused its discretion for failing to agree to the defense’s requests for a change of venue and sequestering the jury. The filing comes in the midst of a controversy surrounding a photo of juror Brandon Mitchell at the March on Washington last August, which included speeches from George Floyd’s family members. He is seen wearing a T-shirt that says “Get Your Knee...

If you're a news program with any pretense of journalistic integrity, how can you: Mention "George Floyd" six times during today's show; but... fail to mention even once the major news about the trial of the man that a jury convicted of murdering George Floyd. Namely, that one of the jurors was a BLM supporter who: Who denied to the judge before being selected as a juror that he had attended any rallies against police brutality, whereas he had attended one while wearing a BLM hat, and a T-shirt that read "Get Off Our Necks--BLM." [See screencap.] Reportedly told the...

A juror on the Derek Chauvin trial who told the court that he had no prior knowledge of the George Floyd civil case was photographed last August wearing a shirt that read “Get your knee off our necks” and “BLM.” He stated last week that he saw jury duty as a means to “spark some change.” ================================================================= Juror #52, now identified as Brandon Mitchell, reportedly told Judge Cahill on March 15 that he had no prior knowledge of the case prior to being summoned for jury duty. Mitchell is the first juror in the Chauvin trial to speak openly about...

Prosecutors are seeking a more severe sentence for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis Police officer convicted of second-degree murder and other charges in the death of George Floyd. Floyd died last year in police custody after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for over nine minutes outside of a Minneapolis convenience store. Following Floyd's death, Chauvin was removed from the police for and charged in connection to the killing. The former officer's trial began earlier this year, and lasted for three weeks. On April 20, a jury found Chauvin guilty of second- and third- degree murder, as well as second-degree manslaughter....

After the jury’s recent verdict of the George Floyd case was made public, and former police officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of Floyd’s murder, President Joe Biden said that the death of Floyd “ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see” the “systemic racism that is a stain on our nation’s soul.”President Biden is mistaken when identifying the stain.The real stain on the soul of our nation is the rejection of God from our educational system. Most teachers are dedicated, caring professionals committed to their students’ growth and learning. But many are trapped by an inflexible, bureaucratic...

Secret Department of Justice plans to arrest Derek Chauvin in court had he been cleared of murdering George Floyd have been revealed. Multiple sources told the Star Tribune federal prosecutors were ready to move in and charge the white ex-cop on federal counts moments after a not guilty verdict on charges of second and third-degree murder, as well as manslaughter, or in the event of a mistrial. Department of Justice prosecutors now also plan to bring civil rights violations charges - akin to hate crimes - against Chauvin and the three other cops on duty with him when Floyd was...

Brandon Mitchell, juror 52 in the trial of Derek Chauvin, has said that the jury deliberated for four hours as one juror was holding out and needed to be convinced of the former officer’s guilt. “It was just dark. It felt like every day was a funeral and watching someone die every day,” Mr Mitchell told CNN, adding that the jury was shown the video of George Floyd’s death five to six times a day during the three-week trial. “I felt like it should have been 20 minutes,” Mr Mitchell said about the four-hour deliberation. He said only one juror,...

Finding Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd was a "no-brainer", one of the jurors in the trial has said. Brandon Mitchell said he and the 11 other jurors could have completed their deliberations within the 10 hours they actually took - and might have finished in just 60 minutes. They did not need much thinking time, the 31-year-old high school basketball coach added. "For the most part, we did go in and come straight out," he told NBC's Today. The jury was unanimous in finding Chauvin guilty last week. The former police officer could now spend decades in jail.

Last week, ex-police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The evidence on the murder charges was weak; the evidence on manslaughter was significantly stronger. Still, the jury took only 10 hours and zero questions to come to its conclusion: guilty on all counts. In and of itself, the Chauvin case never should have been a national news story. After all, an average of three suspects are shot by police every day in the United States, and thousands of homicides that have nothing whatsoever to do with the police take place in the United...

That the U.S. justice system punished Derek Chauvin shows both the promise of America and the hollowness of critical race theory.When the jury announced its verdict in Derek Chauvin’s murder trial, reactions were inevitable. The murder of George Floyd occupied the nation’s attention since it happened, and was the spark that led to both peaceful protests and violent riots across the country. So when the jury found Chauvin guilty of the highest charge, one would expect that those who had felt outraged by Floyd’s murder to be pleased. Maybe some of them were, but those nearest to a television camera...

Maryland officials will conduct an investigation into all deaths that happened in police custody that were overseen by the state's former chief medical examiner, who testified as a defense witness in the trial for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, Maryland attorney general and governor's offices announced Friday. Chauvin was convicted last week of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd,Dr. David Fowler, who was Maryland's chief medical examiner from 2002 to 2019 and is now a member of a consulting firm, testified that the primary cause of Floyd's death was a sudden heart rhythm disturbance during police...