(From FB)
When Marxists who may have somewhat different orientations and
experiences rationally discuss issues on a comradely basis there’s much
to be gained. This is occurring with the broad discussions analyzing the
George Floyd murder and trial of Derek Chauvin. In such an exchange on
Friday with Linda Mann everyone following the discussion learned that
Chauvin had put his knee on the neck of a Black woman sometime ago. What
I learned made me want to investigate Derek Chauvin’s past interactions
with BIPOC.
We do know (and this includes the Prosecution) that Chauvin and Floyd
both worked up through 2019, at the Minneapolis Night Club El Nuevo
Rodeo. The Owner is on the record saying she didn’t know if they knew
each other, although they both worked Security. We also know from the
club owner that whenever there was a fight or disruption inside the club
where the majority of patrons were Black Chauvin would mace everyone
rather than find and deal with the instigators. Now, it’s possible that
AG Ellison’s Office both investigated the above as well as tried to get
it admitted into the Trial as evidence but was rebuked by the Judge.
Frankly, I doubt they did this and I doubt they plan to call the Black
woman who Chauvin brutalized in the same way that he used his knee to
murder George Floyd. If this was intended on their part they’d have
mentioned it in their Opening Statement. Their Decision to NOT do this
is and remains a deeply Political one defined by their desire to convict
Derek Chauvin without politically further tarnishing the Minneapolis
Police Department, which remains under attack from many quarters.
From an anti-racist Working Class point of view if we were prosecuting
we’d have first subpoenaed both Derek Chauvin and George Floyd’s
Employment Records. This would’ve shown concretely if they worked the
same shifts, if their shifts overlapped or if they never worked together
at all. In Discrimination Law Pattern and Practices is extraordinarily
important because by examining a Defendant’s past practices your able to
establish that these amount to a pattern. If Derek Chauvin knew George
Floyd coupled together with Chauvin’s conduct toward Black club patrons
and his similar behavior with a Black woman of putting his knee on her
neck these seemingly disparate acts would be sufficient legally to argue
that Chauvin should’ve been tried for 1st Degree Murder, with the
Enhancement that his action constituted a Hate Crime.
That, Minnesota Attorney General and Democratic Party hack Keith Ellison
didn’t take this route is as telling as his removal of pro cop Hennepin
County DA Mike Freeman who grudgingly prosecuted Mohammed Noor who
murdered Justine Damond following intensive political demands and
demonstrations from the predominantly white SW Minneapolis community,
which was heavily influenced by the assistance and sympathy of the
Minneapolis chapter of Black Lives Matter, acknowledged by the Damond
family and community. Freeman, whose father was a former Democratic
Governor and who himself was groomed from childhood for higher office,
instead failed and subsequently had to accept running to become the
Hennepin County DA after Amy Klobuchar used her position as DA to
railroad a Black man into prison by using a grieving Black family and
community outrage to vault herself into the US Senate. This is all part
of the backdrop of this Trial. Your city or town had different
personalities but likely similar stories.
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