Saturday on Fox News Channel’s “Justice,” host Jeanine Pirro declared the circumstances that led to the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police must be handled with “zero tolerance.”
Transcript as follows:
What happened to George Floyd was a torturous and sadistic murder that has been etched into our national consciousness. It can only be handled in one way — with zero tolerance — zero. Within days Minneapolis D.A. Mike Freeman, an accomplished veteran prosecutor charged police officer Derek Chauvin with murder. Now, all four officers are in custody for aiding and abetting the second-degree murder of George Floyd. But might Chauvin have been charged with murder one? The one element that distinguishes murder one from murder two is the causing of death with premeditation. The sentence then changes from under 40 years to life imprisonment.
Now, some say it’s too high a charge that a jury will compromise that racism is reflected in jury verdicts. But as DA, my office prosecuted and off duty white New York City police officer for shooting and killing a black man. They said murder was too high a charge, that it can’t be done. The jury in my case didn’t think murder was too high a charge and neither did the highest court in New York. Unbeknownst to me until after the verdict, it was the first conviction of its kind in New York State history. Officer Derek Chauvin’s actions are beyond reckless, beyond depraved, beyond a simple, intentional murder.
George Floyd was not resisting arrest. He was compliant. Even more egregious, he wasn’t being arrested for a violent crime, but for allegedly using a counterfeit $20.00 bill to buy food during a pandemic. As to premeditation, like intent, it can be formed in seconds, simultaneous with the act itself. Consider what was going on during the eight minutes and 46 seconds while Officer Chauvin had his knee on George’s neck. That knee stayed on George’s neck until after he expired. He never let up. George begs him not once, not twice, not five times, not 10 times, but 16 times to allow him to breathe.
He repeatedly and continuously pleads, “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe. Please, please.” And all of that was in the first five minutes. The other new police officers actually sitting on his back and legs asked Chauvin if they should roll George on his side, which would give George some breathing room. Chauvin says no and continues to press his knee into George’s neck. You can see Chauvin periodically shift to get maximum leverage from his left knee onto George’s neck, while the other officers are on George’s back and legs suppressing his diaphragm, making it even more difficult for him to breathe.
George continues to plead for his life. Again, an officer asked if they can roll George onto his side. Chauvin says no, readjusting his knee into George’s neck as Chauvin’s own right foot moves freely, proving the full weight of his body was leveraged onto George’s neck. At least a dozen times, witnesses separately yell at police, “He can’t breathe.” They implore Thao, the officer standing to do something for Chauvin to get off his neck. They begged the officer to check George’s pulse. As this is taking place, George says, “I’m through.” He repeats, “I’m through, I’m through.” Then he cries in pain. “They’re going to kill me. Please, please.” He continues to wail crying out, “Please, please,” begging, “Please, man,” and then wails again in pain.
The passersby continue to say, “You got him down, let him breathe.” As they plead with Chauvin, George says, “Please, your knee is on my neck.” Chauvin’s response reveals his state of mind. Chauvin says, “Get up and get in the car.” He mocks George repeatedly. George responds, “You can’t win, man, my stomach, my neck.” George’s nose is bleeding now. The witnesses watching in horror, say, “Look at his nose. He’s bleeding. He’s not resisting.” They say, “He ain’t doing anything. How long are you going to hold him down? Put him in the car.”
George wails, “Mama.” He cries again, “Mama.” The witness yells, “You’re trapping his breathing, bro. I trained in the academy. You’re stopping him from breathing.” They repeatedly tell Chauvin he can’t breathe. They then start yelling, “Get him off the ground.” Chauvin just keeps his head focused on his knee in the neck of George, and then stares at the passersby. One witness who has been watching calls out Chauvin and says, “He’s enjoying that. You’re enjoying that, you bum. You’re stopping his breathing, you are a bum.” The witnesses then start to approach to look at George and say, “Look at his head.” Chauvin takes out his mace and points it, at least two of them. As one of them says, “He’s not responsive.” But Chauvin continues to keep his knee on him. The witness says, “Check his pulse,” and starts yelling, “He’s dead. Check his pulse. They effing killed him. Get off his neck. He’s not moving.”
They look at Officer Thao. “Are you going to let them keep doing that?” Folks, this is not just recklessness. This is not just a brave indifference to human life. This is not just an intentional murder. This is premeditated murder one. Chauvin was reminded over and over again that he was snuffing the life out of George Floyd. He was reminded by George Floyd begging and wailing for his life. He was reminded by the witnesses and passersby. He was reminded as he felt the life of George Floyd being expelled under his knee.
This is not a man who didn’t comprehend or understand the depravity. Again and again, he was called upon to stop, to check, to roll him off his back, to check his pulse, to see that his nose was bleeding, to put him in the car. At every one of these points, his attention was drawn to what he was doing, and he had a chance to stop. Every one of these alerts was a trigger that alerted him to the consequences of his actions, and was a point of premeditation, after which he made that conscious decision to continue. So at what point did the premeditation begin? Did it begin when Chauvin first decided to put his knee to George’s neck?
There’s no procedure or practice that tells police to do this. Did it begin when he refused to take his knee from George’s neck? This is a question of fact for the jury to decide. In the courtroom, you tell them to close their eyes in silence for eight minutes and 46 seconds. That’s a long time to form premeditation. A long time to consider it, a long time to continue it, and long enough to steal George Floyd’s life from him. Yes, zero-tolerance. Bad cops like Chauvin deserve zero tolerance.
But I’ll bet you never heard the name, David Dorn. He too was a black man murdered, shot to death by looters during these protests as he protected his friend’s pawn shop in St. Louis. David was a retired 38-year black police captain. Like George, there is a video of him dying, bleeding out at 2:30 in the morning. We need to honor David’s life, too. We should be crying for him, too. But why not? He deserves justice. Murder must not be defined in America, depending upon who kills you. No one is above the law and no one is below it. That doesn’t just apply to the accused, it applies to both victims here.
Both black, both unjustifiably killed. The outrage, however, is only for one. Dave Dorn’s life mattered, too. There must be zero tolerance for his killer as well. And as for those of you who want to dismantle or defund police departments, you need to remember the vast majority of police who put their lives on the line every day. Consider this. It’s the police officer you call when you’re in trouble and dial 911. It’s a police officer who makes the arrest and consoles the family when there has been a killing. It’s the police officer who arrests and stops the drug dealer from selling to your kid.
The police officer who removes the child tied to the radiator in the basement, who takes the rape victim to the emergency room, who finds the knife used to stab the battered woman, who finds the thief who stole your jewelry, who consoles the child who watched his father kill his mother while hiding his own tears, who searches for evidence in that cold case that one unsolved. Who arrives on scene when there’s a fire, a vehicular accident, a bombing and yes, protests, looting and arson. It is the police officer who never gives up keeping you safe. And yet woke America now seeks to destroy, dismantle and defund these police.
So, yes, zero tolerance for monsters like Chauvin, but don’t destroy the thin blue line that protects us from chaos, lawlessness and criminality. I promise you, you won’t like it.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor