Topic: Newsmax
Michael Dorstewitz joined the ConWeb bandwagon to pretend that Derek Chauvin is innocent of killing George Floyd in his Nov. 20 Newsmax column:
Few multi-racial police encounters are based on race, despite the claims coming from the left — especially since the Obama presidency.
And recently released evidence suggests that the death of George Floyd, prompting the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and widespread violence and billions of dollars in property damage, was not what it appeared.
New evidence suggests that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin did not murder George Floyd in 2020 — that he died instead as the result medical complications — possibly due to drugs.
What’s more, many of the prosecuting attorneys refused to participate in the trial, knowing that Chauvin and the three other officers were innocent.
Alpha News, a Minnesota-based publication, disclosed this new evidence, adding that prosecutors were under “extreme pressure” to indict the officers at the scene.
Note how Dorstewtiz benignly describes Alpha News as "a Minnesota-based publication"; actually, it's a far-right website that promotes conspiracy theories and lacks credibility. Still, he continued:
This was according to recently-released transcripts of depositions taken over the summer of former Hennepin County prosecutor Amy Sweasy, as part of an unrelated civil action she filed against her former boss.
She said that medical examiner Andrew Baker confirmed to her that Floyd had not been murdered. "He told me that there were no medical findings that showed any injury to the vital structures of Mr. Floyd’s neck. "There were no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation," Sweasy swore under oath.
Nevertheless, Chauvin was found guilty of second degree murder, and the other three officers either pled to, or were found guilty of, aiding and abetting a manslaughter.
Dorestewitz omitted that, as a fact-checker noted, "Sweasy was clear in her deposition that she agreed with the decision to charge Chauvin in the death of Floyd," adding that Sweasy's deposition merely showed "there was internal strife within the prosecutor’s office and disagreement about which charges to level against Chauvin, not whether he should be charged." Nevertheless, Dorstewitz persisted:
Newsmax host Carl Higbee also addressed the autopsy report on "Frontline."
"Derek Chauvin wrestled Floyd to the ground," and "he used a department-approved method of restraint by placing his knee at the base of his neck," he said. [emphasis added]
"There was never any medical evidence that Derek Chauvin’s knee caused any trauma to kill George Floyd, according to section 3 of the autopsy report, quote, 'no life-threatening injuries identified.' Pretty clear."
So what was the cause of Floyd’s death? Higbee addressed that also.
"In section 6 of the same report from George Floyd’s blood work, he had a combined 16.5 milligrams of fentanyl in his system," he said. "Now according to the DEA, folks, just two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose."
As the fact-chcker also pointed out, the medical examiner never determined that Floyd died of asphyxia or strangulation; it was a cardiac arrest caused by Chauvin's neck constraint.
Dorstewitz then changed to subject to Barack Obama commenting about police killings of black suspects:
Obama commented on Floyd’s death at a virtual town hall, saying, "I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in this country, who . . . have witnessed too much violence and too much death.
"And too often some of that violence has come from folks who were supposed to be serving and protecting you."
Contrary to Obama’s preconceptions, a Crime Prevention Research Center study released during his last full year in office, using FBI data, found that white police officers are less likely than their black counterparts to use deadly force against black suspects.
But Obama did not specifically reference white police officers in the transcript Dorstewitz is referencing, meaning that Dorstewitz is dishonestly trying to change the subject. Meanwhile, the fact remains that black suspects are much more likely to be killed by police.
Dorstewitz concluded by whining that people complain about racially motivated police killings: "As long as race-baiters like the Rev. Al Sharpton, MSNBC's Joy Reid, and The Nation's Elie Mystal are given a platform every time a police officer has to use deadly force, we’ll never return to that 'shining city upon a hill' described by Ronald Reagan." But it's not "race-baiting" to suggest that black people killed by police deserved it?
