Day 91: "Overwhelming." - a podcast by Matt Kiser

1/ Derek Chauvin was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter for killing George Floyd. In May 2020, Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes as the 46-year-old Black man, who was handcuffed and face down in the street, repeatedly cried out, “I can’t breathe.” The former Minneapolis police officer faces up to 75 years in prison when he is sentenced in the coming weeks. Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines, however, call for sentences short of the maximum. Each murder charge for a person with no criminal history carries a presumptive prison sentence of 12.5 years in Minnesota, while manslaughter carries a presumptive prison sentence of four years. The jurors deliberated for about 10 hours over two days after the prosecution and defense teams presented nearly six hours of closing arguments. (New York Times / Politico / Washington Post / NBC News / Politico / Wall Street Journal / Bloomberg / CNBC)

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  ? Day 1226: Trump threatened military violence against U.S. citizens in Minneapolis who were protesting the death of George Floyd, a handcuffed, unarmed black man who was killed while pleading for air as a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes. Trump, who previously called the video of Floyd’s death “shocking,” tweeted that the protesters were “THUGS” and warned that “the Military is with [Gov. Tim Walz] all the way […] Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!” Hours later, the White House reposted Trump’s comment on its official account. Last month, Trump tweeted support for protesters in Minnesota, Michigan, and Virginia to “LIBERATE” themselves and defy coronavirus stay-at-home orders. In 2017, when neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Va., and a counter-protester was killed, Trump responded by saying there were “very fine people” on “both sides” of the issue. (New York Times / Politico / NBC News / Washington Post / CNN)

  
  


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  ? Day 1228: Police nationwide responded to protests against police violence by deliberately targeting demonstrators, journalists, and bystanders with pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, and excessive use of force. The ongoing protests following the killing of George Floyd by a white police offi...

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