Floyd’s death: Trial to begin for cop charged

SHOCKING VIDEO OF THE BLACK MAN’S MAY 25 DEATH HAD SPARKED A WAVE OF ‘BLACK LIVES MATTER’ PROTESTS AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACIAL INJUSTICE ACROSS THE U.S.

MINNEAPOLIS: Nine months after George Floyd’s death laid bare the racial wounds in the United States, the white policeman charged with murdering the 46-year-old Black man is going on trial.

Jury selection begins in Minneapolis on Monday in the case against Derek Chauvin, who was filmed with his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes as the handcuffed man struggled to breathe.

The shocking footage of Floyd’s May 25 death sparked a wave of “Black Lives Matter” protests against police brutality and racial injustice across the United States and in capitals around the world.

Chauvin’s case promises to be extraordinary in many respects: it will feature star attorneys, be held under tight security and broadcast live.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office brought in Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general who has argued cases before the Supreme Court, to help with the prosecution.

Katyal described Chauvin’s trial as a “landmark criminal case, one of the most important in our nation’s history.”

Ashley Heiberger, a former police officer who now works as an advisor on police practices, said “the fact that a police officer has been charged criminally for an abusive use of force, that in and of itself is an outlier.”

“It’s even rarer for them to be convicted,” Heiberger said. “There is a tendancy for jurors to want to give the police officer the benefit of every doubt.”

The circumstances surrounding 44-year-old Chauvin’s case, however, are so troubling that “to the best of my knowledge, no police officers or police organizations came out and defended his action,” he said.

Three other police officers involved in Floyd’s arrest - Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao - face lesser charges and will be tried separately. All four officers were fired by the Minneapolis Police Department.

Floyd’s arrest was prompted by accusations that he had tried to pass off a $20 bill in a nearby store.

Chauvin, a 19-year veteran of the force, was released from prison on bail in the fall and is expected to plead not guilty to murder and manslaughter charges. “Mr. Chauvin acted according to MPD policy, his training and within his duties as a licensed peace officer of the State of Minnesota,” according to his lawyer, Eric Nelson. “He did exactly as he was trained to do.”

According to Nelson, Floyd died of an overdose of fentanyl.

An autopsy did find traces of the drug in Floyd’s system but said the cause of death was “neck compression.”

Ben Crump, a lawyer representing the Floyd family, said on Saturday he was expecting the defense team to attack Floyd’s character.

“They’re going to call George everything but a child of god, and try to make you forget what you see on that video,” he said.