Justice Department officials were planning to arrest former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin at the courthouse earlier this month after spending months collecting evidence to indict Chauvin on federal police brutality charges if he had not been found guilty of murdering George Floyd, or if the case ended in mistrial, the Star Tribune reported early Thursday.
Fandamntastic.
Lord, if we had used the body cam footage years ago.
The guy had almost 20 complaints against him. If you had even one quarter of that in your job would you still be employed?
If the public thinks heightened awareness of police killings, and the occasional conviction for doing so, are going to lead to less police misconduct they’re deluded.
All sorts of people are jailed for selling drugs. Has it stopped others from selling drugs? Add your crime to that query. Rarely do the laws dissuade or prevent people from doing what it is they’re going to do if it’s what they want to do. And some police want to kill and injure the poor and minorities.
Go ahead, make it illegal for a dog to bark. Tell me how that works out.
#InvestigateBillBarr
I can only imagine there’s a huge backlog of similar cases that prosecutors put on ice under the regimes from Jeff Sessions to Bill Barr.
They generally don’t sell the drugs while being filmed…
Let’s ask Major after he comes back from his training…
Hundreds of convenience stores and banks are robbed yearly, and every perp walking in the front door knows he’s on camera doing it.
Such events change the nature of the game. For one thing, they affirm that cops are not above the law and, depending on the outcome for the other three officers in Floyd’s case, could send a wider message to all law enforcement that you are responsible for policing your colleagues’ conduct as much as your own.
From an administrative standpoint, more and more convictions will force departments to look deeper into why these things are happening to abate liabilities (political and financial). They either start to reform themselves, or someone else will do it for them.
Griggers, a former Marine, is facing up to 10 years in prison for having 11 illegal firearms. But it is the nature of his violent, racist, and antisemitic texts that initially prompted his removal from the police force.
…
According to the News-Democrat , the affidavit highlighted Griggers’ claims to the text thread group that he planned on violating the civil rights and liberties of Georgia’s Black citizens, saying that he was planning on just arresting Black folks to trump up charges. “Also I’m going to charge them with whatever felonies I can to take away their ability to vote,” he claimed.
If you’re an incompetent drug-trade lackey, you will be terminated.
You know, I was really pissed off when Moscow Mitch blocked Garland’s SCOTUS nomination. I wonder if Mitch is regretting that move now? Garland on the court would have been one voice among nine equal voices. Garland as AG is the most powerful voice in the DOJ, and he’s not wasting any time in setting his large, powerful department on the path of the righteous. Moscow Mitch’s court-packing strategy has been damaging, certainly, but Garland and his DOJ can do some real damage to Mitch and his crooked buddies and patrons. Suck on that, Mitch.
Excellent news!
I wonder what it would be like without the cameras?
Rightly or wrongly, many people will see this as overkill. I am glad they had a backup plan in case the jury hung, but since he was found guilty on all counts maybe their scant resources could be devoted to bringing some of the other 10,000 villains that have been screwing the country over for the last 5 years to some kind of legal scrutiny.
That presumes you know how many people who have the potential to sell drugs, and how many of that number chose not to, and (most inscrutably) why. Asking someone to prove a negative is just wild assed rhetoric that serves to prop up a pessimistic world view.
The smart ones where hoodies and masks.
Rule 1: Police will continue to do dumb shit, even when being recorded
Well duh, who commits a crime thinking they are going to get caught? If everyone figured they were going to get caught, crime would plummet.
And leaf blowers. Make the damn things illegal.
I know where where you’re coming from, but I look at it as a loud and clear message to law enforcement. You may skate in your own state, but the feds will have a whack at you if there’s anything to the charges. I think this will make law enforcement think twice before violating someone’s civil rights. At least for the next four years anyway.