Bianca Harkless
Editor-In-Chief
On May 25th, 2020, a 46-year-old man walked into a local convenience store and used a counterfeit $20 dollar bill to buy cigarettes. Employees called the local police to arrest the man, but the interaction turned deadly when a police officer kneeled on the back of the man’s neck, causing the man to repeatedly say “I can’t breathe” before he laid there dead. The man who lost his life was George Floyd and the officer who kneeled on his neck was Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin, as stated in this ABC News story.
The next day, civil rights protests erupted throughout the U.S., calling for the officers involved in the death to be given a punishment for their part in what they saw as wrongful death. On the 27th, the protest spread to places like Los Angeles and Memphis, while the protest in Minneapolis turned violent with fires, building destruction, and looting. The police tried to disperse the crowd with rubber bullets and tear gas, though this only seemed to fan the flames.
On the 28th of May, the Governor activated the National Guard to help end the protest. On the 29th, Derek Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, charges that could both land him up with 10-15 years in prison. On the 31st, the prosecution changed hands and on June 1st, the autopsy was released.
One of the rumors flying around was that he died of a drug overdose due to the autopsy saying that his system showed “fentanyl intoxication’ and the ME called the manner of death a homicide, but that this “is not a legal determination of culpability of intent.” The day after the autopsy was released, civil rights charges were filed against the Minneapolis police, and on June 3rd all of the officers were charged.
On June 8th, democrats introduced a reform bill called the “Justice in Policing Act'', which would look at demilitarizing police and addressing police brutality and would ban chokeholds and no-knock warrants. This is also where the idea of ‘defunding the police’ comes from, but it was turned down in the Repubilcan-controlled Senate that denied it. On June 9th, George Floyd was laid to rest in Houston, Texas. On October 21st, the 3rd-degree murder charge was dropped against Chauvin. January 12, 2021, the Judge separated Chauvin’s trial from the other officers.
March 3rd the House of Representatives passed the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, but it has not been passed by the Senate. On March 8th, Chauvin’s trial began.
At the time of this story, and this one which provides a lot of information about the trial and the events that transpired for it. There had not been any information about how the trial is fairing. Only one member of the Floyd family will be allowed to attend the trial at a time and the same applies to Chauvin’s family. Chauvin also pleads guilty to the 3rd-degree murder charge for more than 10 years in an attempt to avoid future federal charges, but it was rejected by the then U.S Attorney General William Barr.
While there is not a lot of information out about the trial right now, it can be assured that more information will come out as the trial progresses.
Everyone here at the Eagle’s Eye would like it to be known that this is not a reflection of what anyone thinks. We are working our hardest to retell the factual story and give people the known facts about the events of George Floyd’s death and the events which transpired after. Please do your own research and form your own opinions.
Image Credit: Munshots
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