After Action Analysis (George Floyd): May 27, 2020

[carlson1]

Hurling rocks at people is deadly force not a protest. Burning people’s property is not a protest. Burning the Police Precinct is not a protest. Beware when we call good evil and evil good.

We have lost all civility in what is supposed to be the most civil Country in the World.

I have all kinds of sympathy for the man’s family who died, but I have no sympathy for the CRIMINALS (not protestors) in the street tonight.

Beware because it is coming to a town near you.

[Liberty]

Hurling rocks at people is deadly force not a protest. Burning people’s property is not a protest. Burning the Police Precinct is not a protest. Beware when we call good evil and evil good.

We have lost all civility in what is supposed to be the most civil Country in the World.

I have all kinds of sympathy for the man’s family who died, but I have no sympathy for the CRIMINALS (not protestors) in the street tonight.

Beware because it is coming to a town near you.

Burning, stealing and looting is not a protest. Attacking an abusive government is what the 2nd amendment is all about. Meanwhile the Minneapolis police arrested a CNN reporter. The protestors aren't the only ones out of control. If the French never stormed the Bastille, the French kings still would be running things. I do wonder though how many of these people supported Amy Kobuchar.

[parabelum]

Looting and burning stores to the ground is as intolerable as what we saw on that video. Protesting is warranted but taking TVs or burning someone’s livelihood isn’t doing anything for this poor man or his family.

[Ruark]

From what I can see, the officer used excessive force, or perhaps "excessively prolonged force." I think some officers, like with EMS and other high-intensity jobs, can become somewhat jaded over time, doing this stuff day after day after day, for years. It's "just another arrest." That could play a role here, as well as the fact that Floyd was 6' 6", muscular, and probably weighed close to 300 pounds. Physically, the man is an absolute beast. The LEO restraining him is a skinny runt.

Note that the cause of death is not yet determined. The coroner's office is really being careful to do this right.

[parabelum]

That short window is probably the most concerning evidence of something on the officer using his knee. He was really the only officer who had a viewpoint of the mans face and he continued to do as he had been instead of rendering aid. Whether his knee caused it or not is irrelevant as at that point it was clearly visible that Floyd wasn't a threat and they should have shifted to a rescue. Also curious that the paramedic checked pulse but didn't say anything either; seemed to be a lack feedback to the officer and some lack of urgency other than getting him loaded onto the gurney. Those few minutes at a minimum are the part that have me reeling and upset. I expect some level of culpability on the officers part during that time frame; maybe full responsibility once more facts are in.

I've worked a few "encounters". What stands out to me is Officer Chauvin's body language and expression, up to about 4:20 in the video. He's doing a gentle, full-body weight roll on Floyd, hand on hip, with a bit of a p/od smirk. he does not grab the underside of the wheelwell, as he would if Floyd were lifting or sliding away from him. His expression at 4:22 is a dramatic change. The smirk is gone(no more humor at pinning a guy much larger), and there is clear fear/anger, as he's grabbing spray off his belt, and his posturing is aggressive, no longer relaxed/dominant. I would submit that he realized, or at least feared, that Floyd was dead, at that point. The in-situ decision making was probably along the lines of, "If I get up, and he doesn't, we'll get torn up, or have to start shooting people..."

Officer Tao appears to be uncertain with the whole process, as he keeps looking at Floyd, until the crowd steps in, and the officers' attention becomes totally outward focused. We don't know the dynamics of this group of officers, but if Chauvin and his partner(?) had Floyd down, and weren't yelling, Tao should have been watching the crowd, and that would have been typical behavior, IME. "Chauvin's got it under control, I need to keep people back and calm..." Clearly, that is not most of what's going through Tao's mind. He keeps looking at Floyd, and looking at the crowd very neutral-affect- he isn't sure about this, but doesn't want to display that.

EMS may well have played along, believing that if they started pumping on Floyd right there, they'd be mobbed. It would not be unusual for them to lag a bit, as people are (generally)less likely to get violent as long as the medics are there, whereas scooping and running leaves the officers hanging waaaay out there. Maybe intentional, maybe not.

Very good assessment Rob. It does appear that him remaining to have his knee on the neck after he likely felt and realized that Floyd was deceased was caused by fear of what’s going to happen if he gets up and Floyd remains on the ground unresponsive, crowd wise , and also the visual perception as Medics and other officers enter the scene with his knee still on Floyd’s neck is “this must have just happened” since the arriving units had no idea for how long Floyd was in positional asphyxia and unresponsive.

And I have to agree having watched that video few more times that officer Tao was more focused on the crowd and stopped looking back. Not sure if even realized Floyd was unresponsive, aside from bystanders shouting at him.

[chasfm11]

Hurling rocks at people is deadly force not a protest. Burning people’s property is not a protest. Burning the Police Precinct is not a protest. Beware when we call good evil and evil good.

We have lost all civility in what is supposed to be the most civil Country in the World.

I have all kinds of sympathy for the man’s family who died, but I have no sympathy for the CRIMINALS (not protestors) in the street tonight.

Beware because it is coming to a town near you.

On the other hand, more citizens across the country have been arrested and fined for going to church in the past 30 days than for all of arson and looting. That speaks volumes about our legal priorities. The reason given for laws is deterrence of unwanted behavior.

[03Lightningrocks]

Hurling rocks at people is deadly force not a protest. Burning people’s property is not a protest. Burning the Police Precinct is not a protest. Beware when we call good evil and evil good.

We have lost all civility in what is supposed to be the most civil Country in the World.

I have all kinds of sympathy for the man’s family who died, but I have no sympathy for the CRIMINALS (not protestors) in the street tonight.

Beware because it is coming to a town near you.

On the other hand, more citizens across the country have been arrested and fined for going to church in the past 30 days than for all of arson and looting. That speaks volumes about our legal priorities. The reason given for laws is deterrence of unwanted behavior.

Minneapolis has a unique problem. How do you start arresting people when there are several hundred of them acting violently against you? Some of the other states have been able to keep a bit of a lid on it by making arrests but they acted before it got to such a high level of resistance as we see in Minneapolis.