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Sunday, June 7, 2020

UPDATED: Highly Recommended: Larry Johnson On Floyd's Death

Larry Johnson has a really good guest article at TGP: Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis is a Result of Approved Minneapolis Police Training. As not infrequently happens, the title of an article may not fully communicate the true import of the piece. That's the case here. Johnson covers a lot of ground, including Floyd's toxicological condition as well as the operative Minneapolis PD regulations on "neck restraints." I've selected some excerpts that include a brief passage that in my opinion communicates very clearly what was most likely going on in Floyd's encounter with the police. This will surely be coming out at any trial. The only reason we haven't heard some of these things already is because the Fake News Media doesn't want us to know.

So.

First, be aware that throughout Johnson appears to be assuming that Officer Chauvin's use of a "neck restraint" was applied in order to subdue Floyd. I'm going to argue that that's not exactly the case. More precisely, I argue that the restraint was applied to Floyd to immobilize him for his own safety while the police waited for the paramedics to arrive.

Second, I highly recommend that you follow the link below re "Speedballing." It will give you a very clear idea of Floyd's likely condition. Again, bear in mind that Floyd had in his body 4x the amount of Fentanyl known to cause death. In addition to the Meth and other stuff.

We turn to Johnson:

... The video record of the incident is incomplete. New footage has emerged that shows Floyd in the vehicle and he is not sitting passively. The new video shows evidence of a struggle aka “active aggression.” 
I am not defending the use of this type of restraint. But I am pretty certain that evidence will emerge showing that Chauvin was trained to use the knee to the neck as a means of “non-violent” restraint. ... 
... 
Then there is the matter of George Floyd’s drug intoxication. He was Speedballing. (See here for a full description of Speedballing.) When you mix Methamphetamine with Fentanyl, that is “Speedballing”. You are mixing an upper with a downer. 
... 
Methamphetamine is a stimulant. Fentanyl is a depressant. According to the American Addiction Centers, combining stimulants like meth with depressants (like Fentanyl) can mask overdose symptoms until it’s too late to get help. 
... 
The Florida Alcohol and Drug Abuse Association reports that, “Respiratory failure is particularly likely with speedballs because the effects of stimulants wear off far more quickly than the effects of opioids.” 

Ok. From the above we get a likely picture of Floyd overdosing or experiencing excited delirium--which amounts to much the same thing: likely death. He was foaming at the mouth and active. We now know that the officers saw this and expressed concern that Floyd was in a state of excited delirium. If you were an experienced officer like Chauvin and saw this happening in the back of your squad, what would you do? I think you'd get Floyd out of the car, while calling paramedics and attempting to immobilize Floyd while waiting for the paramedics. Immobilization is a recognized approach to treating persons suffering from excited delirium. Why the "neck restraint"? To immobilize Floyd's head and prevent him from harming his face.

That, I think, is the import of what Johnson says next:

The part of the video that is missing (and the story that still needs to be told) is how Floyd reacted when he was put into the police car. The video that has emerged indicates there was some commotion inside the car. That commotion will explain why Floyd was taken out of the car, put on the ground and restrained in accordance with Minneapolis Police Department procedures. 

Johnson next moves on to Minneapolis Police Department procedures. What's important to be aware of here is that the City Council refers to "chokeholds and other neck restraints". "Chokeholds" is the old fashioned term, "neck restraints" is the more PC term--although LE professionals recognize a distinction. What they both describe are ways of rendering a resisting subject semi- or fully unconscious so that the subject can then be handcuffed. The danger involved in these holds is ending up in a struggle in which--whether intended or not--the officer has his forearm across the front of the subject's throat and ends up crushing the trachea. And that's also the importance of the autopsy report which points out that Floyd suffered no traumatic injuries or even bruising.

It's patently obvious that "chokeholds and other neck restraints" has little if anything to do with the immobilization procedure that Chauvin was employing, and that neither "chokehold" nor "neck restraint" is truly a proper description for Chauvin's actions. It also illustrates the dishonesty of the City Council. They want you to believe, for political reasons, that they're trying to stop police officers from gratuitously murdering people or, at least, from recklessly employing sadistic techniques. But what about potentially life saving or injury prevention techniques?

This part of the story is being largely ignored. Yet, just last night, the Minneapolis City Council admitted this ["chokeholds and other neck restraints"] was a practice by banning its use going forward: 
All 12 members of the city council voted to make “quick changes” as the investigation progresses, ultimately resulting in a consent decree from the courts that will require change, said Lucero, who was appointed to the position in January 2019 by Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat.
The following reforms are to be implemented immediately:
— Chokeholds and other neck restraints are banned.
The mere fact that these “restraints” are now banned is a clear admission that they were approved methods under the rules and procedures of the Minneapolis Police Department. Oh yeah, one last thing, the Chief of Police of the Minneapolis Police Department is black. Are we supposed to believe he was unaware of this practice? Bullshit. He came up through the ranks and his training record will show that he not only was trained in the method used by Officer Chauvin. He also probably used it once or twice during his rise to the top of the force.

As an aside, my wife was listening to CBS News early this morning. It was briefly announced that other police departments around the country were taking the same action that Minneapolis was taking: banning "chokeholds." Places like Seattle and Santa Cruz were mentioned. That's right: Deep Blue cities, like Minneapolis.

UPDATE: Final Autopsy on Floyd: Bad Heart, Drug Use, COVID-19, “No Life-threatening Injuries”.

Hmmmmm. Homicide with no life threatening injuries. Go figure, eh?

44 comments:

  1. I am more and more believing that Officer Chauvin was attempting to save Floyd's life and is being scapegoated and sacrificed to the gods (Baal) of political correctness. Same with the other three officers.

    The media pick winners and losers. If you're a loser, you'll be tried in public. If you're a winner, your transgressions will be buried.

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    1. Optics beats facts in the Progressive utopia.

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  2. "...Floyd had in his body 4x the amount of Fentanyl known to cause death."

    President Trump could be using that fact to beat the ChiComs over the head, but he's already pronounced Chauvin the murderer so, there's that.
    Tom S.

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  3. 1) the decedent was lawfully arrested;
    2) the decedent was speedballing, which can easily result in death;
    3) the officer/defendant was concerned about the decedent's condition and a) called for medical help; b) tried to immobilize the decedent to prevent further harm; c) using a department approved method;
    4) the decedent suffered no physical harm as a result of the officer's actions and expired due to drug ingestion.

    I'm betting there is bodycam footage that supports the officer(s).

    Get a change of venue and go to trial.

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    1. You'll note the bodycam videos have not been released. Facts inconvenient to The Narrative will be ignored.

      Chauvin and the other officers better hope the video evidence is preserved

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  4. "a clear admission that they were approved methods".
    If so, this strengthens my suspicion, that this dept. was a haven for Clout Babies, incl. Noor (and Chauvin?).

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  5. The prosecution — and it will very likely come to that regardless of the facts because the extremely political leftwing activist Minnesota AG, rather than properly avoiding personal involvement in such a high profile case, has done exactly the opposite — will be going after the amount of time Chauvin's knee was across Floyd's neck after Floyd was immobilized and saying he couldn't breathe.

    Ellison will try to show that Chauvin (who is white and therefore racist) was effectively asphyxiating Floyd for almost ten minutes despite the ME's findings not indicating that. Even with exonerating facts on their side, the defense will be up against the raging leftist mob's demands for politically correct "justice".

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    1. Ellison could have trouble. The original complaint (Statement of Probable Cause) substantiates that Floyd was not docile and that Chauvin was trying to prevent excited delirium:

      The officers made several attempts to get Mr. Floyd in the backseat of squad 320 from the driver’s side. Mr. Floyd did not voluntarily get in the car and struggled with the officers by intentionally falling down, saying he was not going in the car, and refusing to stand still. Mr. Floyd is over six feet tall and weighs more than 200 pounds.

      While standing outside the car, Mr. Floyd began saying and repeating that he could not breathe. The defendant went to the passenger side and tried to get Mr. Floyd into the car from that side and Lane and Kueng assisted.

      The defendant pulled Mr. Floyd out of the passenger side of the squad car at 8:19:38 p.m. and Mr. Floyd went to the ground face down and still handcuffed. Kueng held Mr. Floyd’s back and Lane held his legs. The defendant placed his left knee in the area of Mr. Floyd’s head and neck. Mr. Floyd said, “I can’t breathe” multiple times and repeatedly said, “Mama” and “please,” as well. The defendant and the other two officers stayed in their positions.

      The officers said, “You are talking fine” to Mr. Floyd as he continued to move back and forth. Lane asked, “should we roll him on his side?” and the defendant said, “No, staying put where we got him.” Officer Lane said, “I am worried about excited delirium or whatever.” The defendant said, “That’s why we have him on his stomach.” None of the three officers moved from their positions.

      BWC video shows Mr. Floyd continue to move and breathe. At 8:24:24, Mr. Floyd stopped moving.


      I could see the prosecution's seizing upon the time beyond the point when Floyd stopped moving and Chauvin still did not remove his knee.

      Lane is a fairly old rookie who was on only his fourth shift since becoming a police oficer. Note too that no one was sitting on Floyd’s back or legs. Lane was holding his legs; Keung was holding his back. And yet the complaint verifies that he was still moving about.

      Although the complaint says the knee on the neck was considered to be inherently dangerous, it was still approved for use in Minneapolis and other jurisdictions.

      We have heard “I can’t breathe” from the BLM since Eric Garner in 2014. Followed by “Hands Up” after Mike Brown...

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    2. I have to assume that the defense attorneys will seek a change of venue.

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    3. Change of venue to where? Mars. 99.9 percent of America, if not most of the world, has seen the video, in full or in part, and heard every one who even thinks their anyone expound on the "injustice" implying, if not just outright calling it, as many have, murder.

      Ellison could just stand up the first day and say to the jury, "You saw it all with your own eyes. The prosecution rests." This is a lynch mob, on a national scale. Chauvin will be convicted, no matter the facts.

      We won't even go into the possibility that the jurors would rather not have their houses burned down, with them and their families locked inside, while the "reimagined" PD stops the enroute fire truck and hectors the driver for excessive speed. Everyone is pretty much in agreement that Chauvin is a small sacrifice to make for, "Peace in our time." What could go wrong.?

      This is only the beginning. The Left is not only reimagining policing. They are realigning the 1,000 year old evolution of Anglo-Saxon justice from centering on the impersonal Law towards tribal (Party) revenge and personal blood debt. Where who you are matters more that what happened.
      Tom S.

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    4. Sooner or later Ellison will be forced to release the bodycam footage.

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    5. The longer it takes for Ellison to release the body cam footage, the more likely it will help Chauvin and the others.

      If the video was bad for Chauvin, it would have ben plastered all over the news and the internet by now.

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  6. will this trial happen before or after the election?

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    1. Unless there's some unusual reason for delay I believe it would have to.

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    2. FWIW, I would think both prosecution and defense would rather have this trial after the election. Because a verdict either way will be explosive.

      But I have no crystal ball.

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    3. I think there are going to be so many depositions, discovery, backgrounds investigations on the accused and deceased, training protocols, etc.

      Having four defendants will make all the above even more complicated.

      I don't see it starting until the first of the year.

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    4. Remember, this is a criminal trial--not a civil trial. Most of what you describe would not apply or not in the same way or to the same degree.

      The accused has a right to a speedy trial under the 6th Amendment--that limits the prosecutions ability to delay and fish around.

      MN has a speedy trial provision of 60 days absent good cause. That said, it took six months to bring OJ to trial.

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    5. Who knows. It took the Hennepin County DA 11 months to indict Noor, and he shot and killed Justine Damond, witnessed by another officer.

      The mystery may have been "why," but that's not a question for the jury.

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    6. I'm not up on MN law, so I'm not sure at what point the speedy trial clock starts running--for sure at indictment. Before that they can investigate indefinitely. Here, there has been some sort of formal arrest and charging process started, as far as I understand it. It's possible the clock has started. Not sure.

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    7. I expect the lawyers for the other three to try to have their clients tried separately. The more they can distance themselves from Chauvin the better their chances.
      Tom S.

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    8. Mark Wauck, You are correct, of course. I just assumed the defense would be willing to agree to a speedy trial waiver. Pushing the trial date to next year would be wise for both the prosecutor and defense.

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  7. The essential import of the George Floyd tragedy is that the Deep State will exploit any opportunity to foment crisis and instigate civil unrest, even if it means causing serious collateral damage, up to and including the death of innocents.

    In a sane world, there should be agencies within the Executive Branch that evaluate these types of incidents and then prognosticate future contingencies. For example, in the run-up to the Fall election, one could reasonably surmise that there may be other incidents that may trigger additional rioting, arson, and violence during the upcoming hot summer months.

    If so, then the Deep States' organized support of these actions constitutes a terrorist enterprise that warrants serious investigation and potential countermeasures.

    Right now, Trump and the Executive Branch are in a defensive mode reacting to events beyond their control, and everything they do is cast negatively in the media. This is a losing posture and it will only encourage the Deep State to further escalate in hopes of finally driving Trump from office. And while this continues, much more damage and loss of life is sure to arise.

    It's time for Barr to go on the offensive and make the Deep State pay a price for escalating these conflicts. As an example, a member of the NY barr was recently arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail in an act of arson. It has been reported that this attorney has ties to the Clinton crime family. Perhaps DOJ could cross-charge under federal terrorism statutes and make a spectacle of this incident as a way of sending a message to other potential instigators. IOW, make the cost of violent insurrection non-trivial.

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    1. I expect this will be used to begin the formation of a national police force, to police the local police. Something that is essential to the GloSoc agenda.
      Tom S.

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  8. Looks like the criminal case against the cops might be also suffering from ED. Not so strong.


    Rob S

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  9. Here is the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Report in pdf. I also noted that, in addition to the fentanyl, meth and industrial-strength THC in his blood, they found free morphine in his urine.

    https://www.hennepin.us/-/media/hennepinus/residents/public-safety/documents/Autopsy_2020-3700_Floyd.pdf

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    1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5640434/

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  10. Not knowing much about fentanyl and norfentanyl, I found this in the University of Michigan’s pathology handbook:

    “Fentanyl is potent synthetic opioid analgesic that is used for chronic pain and as an anaesthetic. It has about 100 times the potency of morphine and 50 times that of heroin."

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    1. It's possible that Floyd didn't know that the stuff he was taking in was laced with fentanyl:

      https://drugfree.org/parent-blog/what-to-know-about-drugs-laced-with-fentanyl-other-substances/

      According to a CDC report, deaths related to fentanyl increased 45% in 2017 alone. Synthetic drugs are often more deadly not only because of how strong they are, but also because of the ever-changing ways in which they are blended into other substances. This makes it difficult for people to know not only what they are taking, but also the strength of the drug.

      Why Are Some Drugs Laced with Other Substances?

      Many families wonder why anyone would lace a product with a substance like fentanyl, given it’s so powerful and can easily cause an overdose. After all, who would knowingly promote a product that has the potential to kill their buyers? The answer lies in economics. It’s cheaper to produce, and when combined with other sought-after substances, can generate huge profits, despite the risk of overdose and loss of life.

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    2. Habitual users like Floyd (many of his encounters with LE had to do with drugs) are not the smartest people. They have one goal: To get high. To escape themselves. I can’t see them being informed about the fine points of what they are ingesting to do so...

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    3. "...despite the risk of overdose and loss of life."

      But Mark, the dealers could care less about risk. There is no such thing as an illicit drug FDA because no one involved in the traffic has the least concept of moral responsibility. If someone OD's because backroom lab A's product has half again as much fentanyl as Lab B's, which they were selling yesterday, or a particular batch didn't get as evenly blended as it should be, who cares. They don't look at people as valued customers, but rather as prey.

      Illicit drugs are a sellers market. Some one is always ready to step up with a hand full of cash.

      I don't limit this moral depravity to just the dealers. Anyone who knowingly participates in this, or human, trafficking, up to and including the ChiCom PolitBuro, is committing a crime against humanity equal to anything the average guard at Auschwitz engaged in, at the least. I, on a jury, would have no problem voting for the death penalty for drug trafficking. It grates on me that prosecutors will plead down traffickers to minor offenses just so they can get a quick guilty plea. Most of the people being released under "justice reform" are in this category and, being utterly bereft of moral compunction, will immediately start again preying on a local community as soon as they can "hookup" with a source.

      Possibly the only thing more depraved than drug or human trafficking is political expediency guss'ed up as "social justice". It's all about selling their fellow man, the normies, "down the river".

      Thought experiment: What are the odds that AG Ellison has started, or will ever start, an investigation to bringing Mr. Floyd's dealer to justice?
      Tom S.

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  11. It should be interesting to see how the Dems try to walk all this craziness back, once the nation catches on that this was actually an drug OD death and the cops tried to save the knucklehead.

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    1. I suppose there will be a lesson in that for police, just as there was a lesson in the Covid pandemic for anyone considering placing a loved one in a long term care facility in a Blue state.

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    2. Not just the dims...

      "Everyone agrees that what happened to #GeorgeFloyd was indefensible."

      https://twitter.com/SeanParnellUSA/status/1269963488736301057

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    3. I believe Bongino, too, has said similar things.

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    4. For sure, but how many "lessons" must our police learn before they declare certain parts of our cities to be "no go" zones.

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    5. Here's the thing:
      If you view the FB video with the interpretation that you witness the actual expiration of Mr. Floyd, then it's natural to view the actions of Chauvin as inhumane. But then you also have to question the humanity of the officer who checks his pulse and the EMT's who display no urgency or concern as they collect his body.

      This is why I was primed to follow sundance down the execution rabbit hole.

      But if you view the video with the belief that Floyd dies off-camera while in transit, and along with that factor the Fentanyl and the excited delirium, then the actions of the police and EMT's towards Mr. Floyd take on an entirely different character.

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    6. We've had far too many incidents of misinterpreted by supposedly definitive videos--starting with Rodney King--for what's happening now to be excusable.

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  12. I was disappointed in Dan Bongino for saying the things he said. To be fair, without context, the video does look bad. Now that facts and evidence are rolling in, we see a different picture emerging.

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    1. Our politics are so toxic that Bongino (and many many others) thought they had to overlook due process and sacrifice Chauvin to make their case for law and order in the face of widespread riots, looting and arson.

      Turns out they may well have been wrong. Good lesson to keep in mind.

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    2. Cassander,

      I agree with your comment.

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    3. I think everyone just assumes Floyd was dead by the end of that FB video.

      If that is true, then the behavior of Chauvin and his colleagues looks pretty darn bad.

      I don't think they bowed to the toxic environment or sacrificed Chauvin. I think they thought they had seen enough.

      I suppose it works out the same in the end.

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