Column: Derek Chauvin's race-baiting defense is rooted in centuries-old stereotypes

[DonViejo]

Sandy Banks
Sat, April 3, 2021, 8:00 AM·5 min read

I've been seething inside this week as I watched the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, charged with murder in the death of George Floyd, a Black man he was trying to arrest for using a fake $20 bill to buy cigarettes.

I don't know what I expected — but it wasn't that the defense for a racist killing would itself be rooted in racism. The Chauvin team is doubling down on the hope that race-based fear-mongering can convince at least one juror that the officer was outmatched by a big, scary Black demon.

That's not what we saw when the video of his encounter with Floyd surfaced last spring.

The nine-minute video of Floyd dying — handcuffed and face down in the street, with Chauvin kneeling on his neck — sparked weeks of protests across the country and around the world. It brought police brutality and structural racism into focus for people who’d never felt the need to pay attention before.

more/NO PAYWALL
https://news.yahoo.com/column-derek-chauvins-race-baiting-120038941.html

[tulipsandroses]

1. On one hand they claim the big black scary man defense. Never mind, that not once did this big black

scary man act aggressive towards you. Facts be damned. On the other hand, Chauvin didn't kill him. It was his bad heart, he had Covid, he had opiates in his system. He had all these pre-existing conditions that would have made him so weak that he died that day.
Somehow that big black scary guy didn't fight back with all his scariness. Just so damn ridiculous.

These stereotypes play out everyday. People dismiss them too often when black folks talk about racism. Black students are more likely to be suspended from school, even arrested for the same infractions as white students.
A fight in a mostly black high school can end up in an arrest. How often is that happening at white schools?
Cops called on grade school kids for acting out.. A high school girl that uses a phone in class being dragged out by security. Why? Because black bodies are more dangerous? These kids are not seen as kids.

[wryter2000]

2. I hope to God it doesn't work

I screamed at the TV when the defense suggested the crowd interfered with Chauvin's "care of George Floyd." At no second of that 9.5 minutes did he show the slightest inclination to "care" for Floyd. It was the sort of gaslighting we get from Republicans.

I hope the prosecution throws that back in their teeth.

[Cozmo]

3. It just takes 1 juror to buy into the defense and unfortunately it could very well happen

Defense just needs to play into the racism of one person and then they will win a mistrial which will be a victory for Chauvin. This is my biggest fear.