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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat we know about Derek Chauvin and Tou Thao, two of the officers caught on tape in the death
https://www.startribune.com/what-we-know-about-derek-chauvin-and-tou-thao-two-of-the-officers-caught-on-tape-in-the-death-of-george-floyd/570777632/
Video filed by a bystander shows a Minneapolis police officer identified as Derek Chauvin with his knee on the neck of George Floyd. Floyd later died.
The Minneapolis police officer shown on video kneeling on George Floyds neck as Floyd pleaded for help, along with another officer who stood by and watched, have both been involved in use-of-force incidents over their careers.
Officer Derek Chauvin has been identified as the officer pinning down Floyd in the now-viral video, which shows Floyd saying he cant breathe repeatedly before losing consciousness. Floyd later died. Four officers on scene have been fired. They have not yet been officially identified by department officials.
Chauvin, 44, is a 19-year department veteran. Department records and news accounts show that he has been involved in several police-involved shootings over his career.
In 2008, Chauvin shot and wounded Ira Latrell Toles during a domestic assault call. According to a 2011 article from the Pioneer Press, Chauvin and other officers showed up to an apartment in south Minneapolis just before 2 a.m. Toles grabbed for an officers gun and Chauvin shot him in the abdomen.
In 2006, Chauvin and five others responded to a stabbing. After Wayne Reyes, 42, allegedly pulled a shotgun on the officers, one of the officers shot and killed Reyes, according to a report titled Stolen Lives from Communities United Against Police Brutality, a police watchdog nonprofit based in Minneapolis.
Looks like these two have a history of brutality.
The Asian fellow proves it's not racist. JK, MPLS police do have a history of non-black minority officers killing black people without justification.
Johnny2X2X
(19,066 posts)3 officers were holding him down, Thao was doing crowd control.
All 3 that held him down need to be charged with Murder 2. The other 2 are just as guilty as Chauvin.
Thao was in the moment and his job was to protect his officers on the ground. I'm sure his defense will be that he didn't know what was going on with the victim even though the bystanders were shouting that he needed help.
But there are 2 others that need to be focused on too. This wasn't a 2 person crime, it was 4 people (and maybe more). The officers holding his feet and torso down knew the kind of distress he was in, they were 2 feet away from his neck getting crushed.
WhiskeyGrinder
(22,356 posts)intervene whenever they witness another officer using excessive force.
IronLionZion
(45,450 posts)News media identified these 2 because their faces and names are visible on the video.
JI7
(89,251 posts)or is what happened based on what he said and what other officers said ?
samsingh
(17,599 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,208 posts).
It does seem true that every group has to have someone they demonize and need to denigrate.
It's weird to me to see minorities fight among other minorities but those observations cannot be ignored.
.
IronLionZion
(45,450 posts)oasis
(49,389 posts)need further investigation.
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)"grabbed for the officers gun" and "pulled a shotgun on the officers"... looks dubious.
oasis
(49,389 posts)since more cameras have come into use?
jcgoldie
(11,631 posts)Some of them can't seem to break old habits.