9:29

Why is former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin being tried in front of a jury? Why are we wasting time, money, and other resources to host a dog and pony show for someone who clearly, in front of our very eyes, committed murder, taking the life of an individual who was not a threat to him, or his fellow officers?

How do we know this? Because we saw it, with our own eyes.

I’m not naive, nor a fool. I understand the concept of “innocent until proven guilty,” but when “innocence” is not a factor, and it doesn’t appear to be in this sickening display of a racially-charged hate crime, what is the fucking point of trying a monster?

Chauvin is a bully and a coward who disgraced his badge as well as the men and women who still believe that it is an honor to serve their communities with dignity and respect for their fellow human beings, no matter their color or ethnicity. That, too, is a tragedy. That so many of these decent cops will be paying the price for Chauvin’s act for years to come.

George Floyd was murdered. We saw this. He cried for his mother. He bled from the nose. He begged for his life. We saw this.

Yesterday, I watched the video of Mr. Floyd’s death, on the concrete in front of a Cup’s Food store, in full, for the first time. It is the most stomach-churning, harrowing display of sheer evil that I have ever witnessed. I’ve never seen someone killed before, outside of a filmmaker’s vision of the act.

Nine minutes and twenty-nine seconds. If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought that the video froze for several minutes, but it was Chauvin who was frozen. Pure ice and devoid of human emotion as he knelt, hands in pockets as if he was waiting for his turn on the tee, his body shifting so that he could better focus his weight on Mr. Floyd’s neck.

Prior to the nine-minute and twenty-nine-second video that aired on the newscast, I never saw the blood coming out of Mr. Floyd’s nose before, or the spittle on his lips or the devastating sight of his eyes rolling back in his head. Nor did I see the paramedics practically push Chauvin off him before lifting him onto a gurney and trundling his limp body into an ambulance.

Yesterday, I witnessed all of that and my stomach is still turning. I can’t imagine what the people who were on-site and watched this tragedy unfold can be experiencing.

It took forever, didn’t it? It took damn near forever for Chauvin to finish what he set out to do.

The trial is airing live on CNN as I write this and I have to wonder what Chauvin’s defense team is really thinking, after hearing the testimony of the witnesses, especially the under-age, Darnella Frazier, who wasn’t allowed on camera as she is still a minor. As the individual who took the video seen around the world, her life will undoubtedly be forever changed.

Heart-rendingly emotional on the witness stand, this young woman bemoaned the fact that she “couldn’t do more” for Mr. Floyd. She was sorry that she hadn’t “physically interacted” with the officers.

Darnella also spoke of the men in her family. Her father, brother, and cousins. Black men. And how it could have been any one of them lying on the ground, breathing their last as those individuals who are supposed to “protect and serve” instead, took a life. Brutally, and with the knowledge that what they were doing could, and did, contribute to a man’s death.

All four officers are culpable. Not one interceded. How can this be? What can they have been thinking? I’m struggling with this most of all and I can’t get my mind around it. If they didn’t give a damn whether a black man lived or died, did they at least think about their families? Their children? And how this one, sick, reckless act would affect their livelihoods?

No pensions for them. Oh, well.

So, there will be trials and there will be verdicts in due time. And yes, even monsters like Adolf Eichmann were allowed to stand trial. And, that is how it should be. I’m not a Luddite or a proponent of dragging a man out into the street and shooting him in front of the locals. But, I’ll tell you this: If will be a travesty if Chauvin’s trial drags out ad Infinitum. Worse than that.

And if, by some obscene twist of our already-twisted universe, the jury comes back with a “not guilty” verdict? Then we are in for some deep, deep shit. With that said, I choose to be hopeful and look forward to the day, sometime soon, when Derek Chauvin is tossed into the general population of whatever penitentiary is deemed suitable for scum like him because justice will be served.

And at the very least, it will be served for nine minutes and twenty-nine-seconds.

© Sherry McGuinn, 2021. All Rights Reserved.