Don Lewis: ‘No Plausible Claim’ George Floyd Was Actively Resisting Police At Time Of Death | MSNBC

Don Lewis, the special prosecutor in the case of Philando Castile, joins Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss the new charges against the four officers involved in the murder of George Floyd. Aired on 6/3/2020.
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Don Lewis: ‘No Plausible Claim’ George Floyd Was Actively Resisting Police At Time Of Death | MSNBC

83 comments

    1. @Jiovonni Hernandez there’s literally more whites that got murdered by cops and the cops were innocent than blacks… sorry that I’m more intelligent to look up statistics than u are

    2. Duncan Lemp , was a student who associated himself with a far right paramilitary militia group ,Detectives received a tip he illegally possessed firearms,Lemp had a criminal history in juvenile court that prohibited him from legally owning firearms until the age of 30 ,Lemp’s house was rigged with booby trap devices , Lemp ,refused to COMPLY with police he would not get on the ground ,when they entered his bedroom,other people in the room had to warn police that the room was rigged,Montgomery County bomb squad had to be called in

    3. Demitrice Underwood,
      Jeez, that sounds like a bad dude. Guarantee if he was a democrat, all of he redhats would agree that he deserves to die. They have such a self-centered ideology. To them, only redhat lives matter. They justify the death of everyone else. But, god forbid you expose their god, cartoon President, D. tRump.

    1. @manoffayth I think i found the quib about a sandwich amidst the gravity of this whole situation a bit in bad taste. (pun intended?) But you are right, people are exhausted. I am too. Its been very hard to just chill out.

    1. @SixthSense Honestly though, people joking about eating at a protest, you have to eat at some point.

    2. no, im asking this question because you last comment was confusing, it was clearly a relevant question, nice try with the race baiting, though

    1. @RM I support law and order. Didn’t see any evidence of this in the death at police hands of George Floyd. Quite the opposite, dude! And no, I don’t condone shops being damaged and looted. Yes, the police do have a tough job and when they have public trust and support the job is easier because people will help them. Do you honestly believe that they would all be facing trials without the independent video?

    2. The tapes will show for 9 minutes this guy was loosing his life while handcuffed. He was not resisting, but because he was passing out. As a police officer, that was a clear sign to get this guy up and get him help. There were at least 3 other officers standing by, so you are telling me 4 officers could not handle a guy who was passing out

  1. How can you resist arrest if you can’t breathe? You’re not fighting the officer you’re fighting to breathe!! Throw all of them under the jail.

    1. @Jack Jones The medical examiner said Floyd died from a sudden failure in his heart’s ability to pump blood to his brain due to the stress put on his body by the arresting officer pressing upon his neck.

  2. Cant the cops arrest themselves after killing Floyd?

    Edit 6/4/20: Oh wait, they are arrested.

    1. He had covid and fentanyl running through his veins which lead to him dying. Next time try educating yourself before speaking out of turn.

    2. @Skelter Helter The coroner’s report and IME indicate cause of death is attributed to the acts of the police. Your alleged facts are pertinent to the egg shell skull defense in a civil action; however, egg shell is not a defense in a civil action as the tort feasor takes his victim as he finds him. https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/eggshell_skull_rule

  3. You’re all misreading the title, did you watch to the end? ‘There’s no plausible claim that george floyd was resisting arrest while being prone and handcuffed’

    1. @Tera Tokomi I know, the purpose is to show you what cops deal with even if the dude is handcuffed… they can do a lot of damage if they let up on them easy…

      Ok and so what if the COPS that pinned Floyd down have been involved with something like this:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BZkxLQ6zlk&t=4s

      You think with a big dude like Floyd, they aren’t gonna be xtra careful?

    2. @RM Oh I totally agree with you. Floyd was violently resisting arrest and the cops had to use force to restrain and arrest him. Depending on the judge and jury, those cops may get the murder charges dropped.

  4. FIRST AND FOREMOST whether or not the interaction between Mr Floyd and the police stemmed from a legitimate criminal police inquiry it is always tragic that anyone dies as a consequence, but I’m interested to know WHY the police were ‘interested’ in Mr Floyd to begin with. What was he suspected of doing or having done? Mr Floyd didn’t appear to have any breathing issue that I’ve heard of mentioned prior to being restrained and I presume that like here if you comply with police instruction there is no need to restrain you on the ground. So did Mr Floyd fail to follow any instruction prior to being ‘put’ on the ground that ‘justified’ the action taken by the police. I fully accept that once down on the ground a person if they’re fighting to breathe which is a legitimate survival action for anyone of us to be doing as clearly Mr Floyd was and tragically the police failed to compensate but to the police might appear as ‘resisting’. Or was it the case that the police just selected him and put him on the ground simply to practice their restraining techniques BUT with tragic consequence. All I’ve seen is a ‘baying’ for the police officers scalps and it seems to me that people would be quite happy if they were lynched. They have already been dismissed from their police force which in my opinion sends a pre-judgement to the wider public that they are guilty BEFORE being proven so. Like Mr Floyd, they are innocent UNTIL proven otherwise. The protests are a legitimate outpouring of concern in this case BUT the violence, looting and destruction of property is absolutely reprehensible and grossly insults the memory of Mr Floyd and ANYONE else who has or sadly will die in such tragic circumstances including their grieving families. If this is how it is presently WHAT I wonder will the situation be like should any or all of these former officers are acquitted at trial?

    1. RM,
      Apparently you have never been a victim of injustice. Unfortunately, all republicans don’t believe in victimization unless something has happened to one of them or their kkk brothers. Maybe you should shut up when trying to disqualify something that you have no clue or sympathy about.

    2. RM, you and I grew up in different Americas. Denial is yours to own if you believe this does not happen and it happens to often. I’m a veteran who served our country for eight years of my life, it gives me no pleasure to say that this happens in the country I love so much. And if you must know, yes I attempted to inform the officer that I didn’t do anything wrong and would fight it in court at which point he slammed my face on too the hood of my vehicle breaking my nose then kicked my feet out from under me causing me to fall to the ground where he kicked me twice, all this while I was handcuffed and at no point was I combative, disagreeing with them doesn’t give them the right to abuse the people they are supposed to serve and protect. You have clearly never been at the other end of the stick, you have a lot to learn about our nation especially if you look at situations only through your experiences. Because you have not seen it yourself doesn’t mean it does not happen, foolish is to believe all those Americans are protesting over false claims. Do not confuse the looters with the protesters, the folks looting are criminals, the people protesting are your fellow citizens and don’t forget for one minute that many of the freedoms you cherish so much came from groups similar to ones being formed now. Do not give yourself to selective sight and selective hearing, ignorance to real facts is what has brought our nation to this point.

    3. @Mr X It sounds like you are a veteran, salute. What was it like for you — were you in Iraq?

      It sounds like you were abused by that cop, and I agree with you this happens. I have had an experience similar and I learned from it. I was younger and opened my mouth. Now, if I resisted, and punched or ran from the cop, who knows. Can you change that sort of thing… I dont think so. Its an uphill battle because the cops do stick together and they will fabricate stories… cant change that. Some of them get caught, but, why go through it and be a victim…

    4. Mr X,
      Amen, man. And thank you for your service. I would argue that-that spoiled piece of sh!t has a lot to learn about life altogether. Must be nice to live in a world where no injustices occur. Turns out anybody can. All you gotta do is learn how to lie to yourself. If this kid doesn’t learn anything from your heartfelt comment, it doesn’t mean necessarily that your comment won’t echo and reverberate within his numb skull any time he ends up being abused by a crooked authority figure. Live and learn. Sometimes people refuse to learn from others mistakes and experiences. Sometimes they gotta feel the danger for themselves. Sad, that. The younger generations have always and will always have a chip on their shoulder. They’ll always believe that they’re the smart ones, and all of their elders are just a bunch of senile “boomers”—to use their eloquent nomenclature. Anyway, you take care. Nice meeting you.

    5. @Franz Kafka my Uncle was Murdered by the Mafia. Ive had run ins with the Cops until I realized its the wrong approach…

      I even ran into a cop car once, they failed to block the ramp while dealing with an accident and I clipped the back of the Cruiser. I opened my mouth saying it was their fault — and they did a number on me…

      I realized what a corrupt system it is, and thought about civil rights and courts and then my lawyer explained it to me….and told me he wanted to get me in and out of court as quietly as possible because you make a big deal out of it, the courts lean on the side of law enforcement.

      And so the best way to deal with it, is to accept it and walk a thin line and stop with the civil rights BS….it ain’t so free.

      I realized at that moment what America is, A Job, and the County you live in… The County you live in can take away your life liberty and freedoms and so know the County. Move if you dont like it…

      Its like that Netflix film Making a Murderer, watch that series and you’ll see about how America is really about what county you live in….

    1. I think Ellsion wants a race war. He is trying to push charges that are hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury so they will walk.

    2. @Side Character He’s going to get his clock cleaned in court!!! It will probably result in more rioting!!!!

    3. @Side Character He should’ve let the career prosecutors handle this or brought in a special prosecutor. He’s trying to grandstand and make a name for himself and it’s going to backfire. Just like Marilyn Mosby in Baltimore with the Freddie Grey case.

    4. I agree. Because For second degree murder, you need an underlying Felony and the underlying felony here is supposedly assault. However, to prove assault in Minesota, you need to prove that his intent was to cause bodily harm that resulted in an unintentional killing. Chauvin spelled out his intentions by saying no we will keep him in this position. His intention was to restrain him, unless he decides to say otherwise at trial.
      So as of now, the intent looks like it wasn’t to cause bodily harm, but to restrain Floyd as part of his official duties as officer. Since the elements to prove assault are not met, the second degree murder charge fails and Chauvin walks as a result of overcharging the cop. But the jury might be partial and decide to convict. Then he will be exonerated at appeals court.
      But, I do agree that the officer was negligent of Floyd’s safety, and as a result of his depraved mind, Floyd died. Third Degree Murder was the best charge to levy in order to make sure Chauvin does not walk free.

    5. @Daniel An He’s trying to appease the crowd who’s outraged. It’s going to fail in court. His biggest problem in court is going to be the medical examiners autopsy report.

    1. One Eyed Willy It’s in the constitution that if the populace deems the government unfit they have the right to start a revolt, or express it. Seems like law abiding citizens to me.

  5. The title is a total manipulation for those who don’t read and understand what they are reading.

  6. They should’ve put “that” after no plausible claim because the title is really confusing

    1. It’s plain clickbait, it forces one to a double take and click on the video! The mistake is intentional!

    1. @IDK JK these “protesters” have murdered a cop. Rip david dorn. Look up his name and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

  7. Even if he was resisting arrest, he clearly stopped by the time he was begging to get up.

    1. Broken Winged Phoenix maybe the fentanyl and meth killed him. I’m not saying they needed to keep sitting on him once he as cuffed, but that’s some serious drugs to have in your system. Plus it’s obvious he used up all his actual money buying that stuff which is why he had to try kiting fake money in the first place. They were right- dope kills. He had Coronavirus, too, apparently. Add 4 stupid cops to the mix and you have a giant mix of stupidity, not racism. Even the black cop didn’t think he was in distress. We need way better cop training AND addiction treatment. Tragedy all around.

    2. @Judy Hinterlong nice to see a lady who has good reason in an emotional situation. All you ladies out there, take a lesson from Judy! He used Fentanyl… thats reasonable doubt for me as a juror as its a known killer. Prince died the same way… no knee on his neck.

  8. George Floyd and the cop that was kneeling on his neck worked together for multiple years. Also who uses a fake 20 dollar bill gets caught then stands in front of the gas station for a hour till the cops get there. Somethings very fishy

  9. Floyd threatened to spit on the officers and stated he had coronavirus. His body DID test positive for coronavirus.

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