Where's the Thread on "George Floyd" ????
- Thread starter Ron in Regina
- Start date
Flip it. If he was a gangster who threatened bystanders with a gun while his buddy murdered someone, would that be "crowd control?"
Or would it be "accessory to murder?"
Is crowd control in the job description of the gangster?
Also, and this is my problem with accessory laws, if the cop (or the gangster) had know prior knowledge of what the other officers (or gangster) was intending, then how can they be an accessory for basically being at the wrong place at the wrong time?
George Floyd’s killing capped years of violence, discrimination by Minneapolis cops: DOJ
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jim Salter And Mark Vancleave
Published Jun 16, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department on Friday issued a withering critique of Minneapolis police, alleging that they systematically discriminated against racial minorities, often violated constitutional rights and disregarded the safety of people in custody for years before George Floyd was killed.
The report was the result of a sweeping two-year probe, and it confirmed many of the citizen complaints about police conduct that emerged after Floyd’s 2020 death. The investigation found that Minneapolis officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force,” and violated the rights of people engaged in constitutionally protected speech.
The investigation also concluded that both police and the city discriminated against Black and Native American people and those with “behavioral health disabilities.”
“We observed many MPD officers who did their difficult work with professionalism, courage and respect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference in Minneapolis. “But the patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible.”
Garland said officers routinely disregarded the safety of people in custody, noting numerous examples in which someone complained that they could not breathe, only to have officers reply with a version of “You can breathe. You’re talking right now.”
Police “used dangerous techniques and weapons against people who committed at most a petty offense and sometimes no offense at all,” the report said. Officers “used force to punish people who made officers angry or criticized the police.”
Police also “patrolled neighborhoods differently based on their racial composition and discriminated based on race when searching, handcuffing or using force against people during stops,” according to the report.
As a result of the investigation, the city and the police department agreed to a deal known as a federal consent decree, which will require reforms to be overseen by an independent monitor and approved by a federal judge. That arrangement is similar to reform efforts in Seattle, New Orleans, Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his agency was committed to creating “the kind of police department that every Minneapolis resident deserves.”
Mayor Jacob Frey acknowledged the work ahead.
“We understand that change is non-negotiable,” Frey said. “Progress can be painful, and the obstacles can be great. But we haven’t let up in the three years since the murder of George Floyd.”
The scathing report reflected Garland’s efforts to prioritize civil rights and policing nationwide. Similar investigations of police departments have been undertaken in Louisville, Phoenix and Memphis, among other cities.
The Minneapolis investigation was launched in April 2021, a day after former officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the killing of Floyd, who was Black.
Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe before going limp as Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. The killing was recorded by a bystander and sparked months of mass protests as part of a broader national reckoning over racial injustice.
The Justice Department reviewed police practices dating back to 2016, and found that officers sometimes shot at people without determining whether there was an immediate threat.
Officers also used neck restraints like the one Chauvin used on Floyd nearly 200 times from Jan. 1, 2016 to Aug. 16, 2022, including 44 instances that did not require an arrest. Some officers continued to use neck restraints after they were banned following Floyd’s killing, the report said.
The investigation found that Black drivers in Minneapolis are 6.5 times more likely to be stopped than whites, and Native American drivers are 7.9 times more likely to be pulled over. And police often retaliated against protesters and journalists covering protests, the report found.
The city sent officers to behavioral health-related 911 calls, “even when a law enforcement response was not appropriate or necessary, sometimes with tragic results,” according to the report.
The findings were based on reviews of documents, body camera videos, data provided by the city and police, and rides and conversations with officers, residents and others, the report said.
The report noted that police are now prohibited from using neck restraints like the one that killed Floyd. Officers are no longer allowed to use some crowd control weapons without permission from the chief. “No-knock” warrants were banned after the 2022 death of Amir Locke.
The city has also launched a program in which trained mental health professionals respond to some calls rather than police.
The Justice Department is not alone in uncovering problems.
A similar investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights found “significant racial disparities with respect to officers’ use of force, traffic stops, searches, citations, and arrests.” It criticized “an organizational culture where some officers and supervisors use racist, misogynistic and disrespectful language with impunity.”
The federal report recommends 28 “remedial” steps to improve policing as a prelude to the consent decree. Garland said the steps “provide a starting framework to improve public safety, build community trust and comply with the constitution and federal law.”
The mayor said city leaders want a single monitor to oversee both the federal plan and the state agreement to avoid having “two different determinations of whether compliance has been met or not. That’s not a way to get to clear and objective success.”
Several police departments in other cities operate under consent decrees, which require agencies to meet specific goals before federal oversight is removed, a process that often takes many years at a cost of millions of dollars.
Floyd, 46, was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner market. He struggled with police when they tried to put him in a squad car, and though he was already handcuffed, they forced him on the ground.
Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years for murder. He also pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in that case. He is serving those sentences in Tucson, Arizona.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Jim Salter And Mark Vancleave
Published Jun 16, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — The Justice Department on Friday issued a withering critique of Minneapolis police, alleging that they systematically discriminated against racial minorities, often violated constitutional rights and disregarded the safety of people in custody for years before George Floyd was killed.
The report was the result of a sweeping two-year probe, and it confirmed many of the citizen complaints about police conduct that emerged after Floyd’s 2020 death. The investigation found that Minneapolis officers used excessive force, including “unjustified deadly force,” and violated the rights of people engaged in constitutionally protected speech.
The investigation also concluded that both police and the city discriminated against Black and Native American people and those with “behavioral health disabilities.”
“We observed many MPD officers who did their difficult work with professionalism, courage and respect,” Attorney General Merrick Garland told a news conference in Minneapolis. “But the patterns and practices we observed made what happened to George Floyd possible.”
Garland said officers routinely disregarded the safety of people in custody, noting numerous examples in which someone complained that they could not breathe, only to have officers reply with a version of “You can breathe. You’re talking right now.”
Police “used dangerous techniques and weapons against people who committed at most a petty offense and sometimes no offense at all,” the report said. Officers “used force to punish people who made officers angry or criticized the police.”
Police also “patrolled neighborhoods differently based on their racial composition and discriminated based on race when searching, handcuffing or using force against people during stops,” according to the report.
As a result of the investigation, the city and the police department agreed to a deal known as a federal consent decree, which will require reforms to be overseen by an independent monitor and approved by a federal judge. That arrangement is similar to reform efforts in Seattle, New Orleans, Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri.
Police Chief Brian O’Hara said his agency was committed to creating “the kind of police department that every Minneapolis resident deserves.”
Mayor Jacob Frey acknowledged the work ahead.
“We understand that change is non-negotiable,” Frey said. “Progress can be painful, and the obstacles can be great. But we haven’t let up in the three years since the murder of George Floyd.”
The scathing report reflected Garland’s efforts to prioritize civil rights and policing nationwide. Similar investigations of police departments have been undertaken in Louisville, Phoenix and Memphis, among other cities.
The Minneapolis investigation was launched in April 2021, a day after former officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, was convicted of murder and manslaughter in the killing of Floyd, who was Black.
Floyd repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe before going limp as Chauvin pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes. The killing was recorded by a bystander and sparked months of mass protests as part of a broader national reckoning over racial injustice.
The Justice Department reviewed police practices dating back to 2016, and found that officers sometimes shot at people without determining whether there was an immediate threat.
Officers also used neck restraints like the one Chauvin used on Floyd nearly 200 times from Jan. 1, 2016 to Aug. 16, 2022, including 44 instances that did not require an arrest. Some officers continued to use neck restraints after they were banned following Floyd’s killing, the report said.
The investigation found that Black drivers in Minneapolis are 6.5 times more likely to be stopped than whites, and Native American drivers are 7.9 times more likely to be pulled over. And police often retaliated against protesters and journalists covering protests, the report found.
The city sent officers to behavioral health-related 911 calls, “even when a law enforcement response was not appropriate or necessary, sometimes with tragic results,” according to the report.
The findings were based on reviews of documents, body camera videos, data provided by the city and police, and rides and conversations with officers, residents and others, the report said.
The report noted that police are now prohibited from using neck restraints like the one that killed Floyd. Officers are no longer allowed to use some crowd control weapons without permission from the chief. “No-knock” warrants were banned after the 2022 death of Amir Locke.
The city has also launched a program in which trained mental health professionals respond to some calls rather than police.
The Justice Department is not alone in uncovering problems.
A similar investigation by the Minnesota Department of Human Rights found “significant racial disparities with respect to officers’ use of force, traffic stops, searches, citations, and arrests.” It criticized “an organizational culture where some officers and supervisors use racist, misogynistic and disrespectful language with impunity.”
The federal report recommends 28 “remedial” steps to improve policing as a prelude to the consent decree. Garland said the steps “provide a starting framework to improve public safety, build community trust and comply with the constitution and federal law.”
The mayor said city leaders want a single monitor to oversee both the federal plan and the state agreement to avoid having “two different determinations of whether compliance has been met or not. That’s not a way to get to clear and objective success.”
Several police departments in other cities operate under consent decrees, which require agencies to meet specific goals before federal oversight is removed, a process that often takes many years at a cost of millions of dollars.
Floyd, 46, was arrested on suspicion of passing a counterfeit $20 bill for a pack of cigarettes at a corner market. He struggled with police when they tried to put him in a squad car, and though he was already handcuffed, they forced him on the ground.
Chauvin was sentenced to 22 1/2 years for murder. He also pleaded guilty to a federal charge of violating Floyd’s civil rights and was sentenced to 21 years in that case. He is serving those sentences in Tucson, Arizona.
George Floyd’s killing capped years of violence, discrimination by Minneapolis cops: DOJ
The Justice Department accused Minneapolis police Friday of engaging in a pattern of violating constitutional rights
Well, I guess it's nice to know that the school bully has a future employment option.
Ex-Minneapolis officer unrepentant as he gets nearly 5 years in George Floyd killing
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Aug 07, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, did not show any repentance or admit any wrongdoing as he was sentenced Monday to 4 years and 9 months.
Thao had previously testified that he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020.
A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s murder touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning of police brutality and racism.
At his sentencing hearing, Thao said he never intended to hurt anyone that day. He spoke at length about his growth as a Christian during his 340 days behind bars but denied any responsibility for Floyd’s death. In rambling remarks full of biblical references, he drew parallels with the sufferings and false accusations endured by Job and Jesus.
“I did not commit these crimes,” Thao said. “My conscience is clear. I will not be a Judas nor join a mob in self-preservation or betray my God.”
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who found Thao guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, said he would have liked to have heard some kind of repentance from Thao on Monday.
“After three years of reflection, I was hoping for a little more remorse, regret, acknowledgement of some responsibility — and less preaching” he said.
Cahill then sentenced Thao to 57 months — the top end of the range recommended under state guidelines, where the standard sentence is 48 months, an even four years. The sentence was more than the 51 months that prosecutors had sought and the 41 months requested by Thao’s attorney, Robert Paule.
Thao’s sentence will run concurrently with a 3 1/2-year sentence for his separate conviction on a federal civil rights charge, which an appeals court upheld on Friday. Thao will be returned to federal prison to finish that sentence before he is transferred to a Minnesota state prison to serve out the remaining few months with credit for time served.
Paule, who called Thao “a good and decent man with a family” in court, said afterward that they will appeal in both the state and federal cases. He declined further comment.
Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge said during the hearing that Floyd’s final words “reverberated across the globe.”
“George Floyd narrated his own death over the course of a restraint that lasted more than 9 long minutes until he lost consciousness, stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating,” she said.
Thao facilitated Floyd’s death, she said, because he “stood by and allowed it to happen” and stopped others from helping the dying man, including a Minneapolis firefighter who was a trained emergency medical technician and could have performed CPR on him.
“He knew better, and he was trained to do better,” Eldridge said.
The hearing, which lasted just over half an hour, reflected how the legal cases flowing from Floyd’s murder are winding down. While Floyd family members were a frequent presence during earlier proceedings, none were in the courtroom for Thao’s sentencing. Eldridge told the court they wanted to grieve in private. Apart from four relatives or friends of Thao, most of the people in the courtroom were journalists.
Prosecutors left the courthouse without commenting to reporters.
In his 177-page ruling that Thao was guilty, Cahill said Thao’s actions separated Chauvin and two other former officers from the crowd, allowing his colleagues to continue restraining Floyd and preventing bystanders from providing medical aid.
“There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao’s actions were objectively unreasonable from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, when viewed under the totality of the circumstances,” Cahill wrote. He concluded: “Thao’s actions were even more unreasonable in light of the fact that he was under a duty to intervene to stop the other officers’ excessive use of force and was trained to render medical aid.”
Thao had rejected a plea bargain on the state charge, saying “it would be lying” to plead guilty when he didn’t think he was in the wrong. He instead agreed to let Cahill decide the case based on evidence from Chauvin’s 2021 murder trial and the federal civil rights trial in 2022 of Thao and former Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng.
That trial in federal court ended in convictions for all three. Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges instead of going to trial a second time, though he plans a long-shot appeal of his state conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lane and Kueng pleaded guilty to state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter.
Lane and Kueng received 3 and 3 1/2-year state sentences respectively, which they are serving concurrently with their federal sentences of 2 1/2 years and 3 years. Thao is Hmong American, while Kueng is Black and Lane is white.
Minnesota inmates generally serve two-thirds of their sentences in prison and one-third on parole. There is no parole in the federal system but inmates can shave time off their sentences with good behaviour.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Aug 07, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — Tou Thao, the last former Minneapolis police officer convicted in state court for his role in the killing of George Floyd, did not show any repentance or admit any wrongdoing as he was sentenced Monday to 4 years and 9 months.
Thao had previously testified that he merely served as a “human traffic cone” when he held back concerned bystanders who gathered as former Officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, knelt on Floyd’s neck for 9 1/2 minutes while the Black man pleaded for his life on May 25, 2020.
A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s murder touched off protests worldwide and forced a national reckoning of police brutality and racism.
At his sentencing hearing, Thao said he never intended to hurt anyone that day. He spoke at length about his growth as a Christian during his 340 days behind bars but denied any responsibility for Floyd’s death. In rambling remarks full of biblical references, he drew parallels with the sufferings and false accusations endured by Job and Jesus.
“I did not commit these crimes,” Thao said. “My conscience is clear. I will not be a Judas nor join a mob in self-preservation or betray my God.”
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill, who found Thao guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, said he would have liked to have heard some kind of repentance from Thao on Monday.
“After three years of reflection, I was hoping for a little more remorse, regret, acknowledgement of some responsibility — and less preaching” he said.
Cahill then sentenced Thao to 57 months — the top end of the range recommended under state guidelines, where the standard sentence is 48 months, an even four years. The sentence was more than the 51 months that prosecutors had sought and the 41 months requested by Thao’s attorney, Robert Paule.
Thao’s sentence will run concurrently with a 3 1/2-year sentence for his separate conviction on a federal civil rights charge, which an appeals court upheld on Friday. Thao will be returned to federal prison to finish that sentence before he is transferred to a Minnesota state prison to serve out the remaining few months with credit for time served.
Paule, who called Thao “a good and decent man with a family” in court, said afterward that they will appeal in both the state and federal cases. He declined further comment.
Assistant Attorney General Erin Eldridge said during the hearing that Floyd’s final words “reverberated across the globe.”
“George Floyd narrated his own death over the course of a restraint that lasted more than 9 long minutes until he lost consciousness, stopped breathing and his heart stopped beating,” she said.
Thao facilitated Floyd’s death, she said, because he “stood by and allowed it to happen” and stopped others from helping the dying man, including a Minneapolis firefighter who was a trained emergency medical technician and could have performed CPR on him.
“He knew better, and he was trained to do better,” Eldridge said.
The hearing, which lasted just over half an hour, reflected how the legal cases flowing from Floyd’s murder are winding down. While Floyd family members were a frequent presence during earlier proceedings, none were in the courtroom for Thao’s sentencing. Eldridge told the court they wanted to grieve in private. Apart from four relatives or friends of Thao, most of the people in the courtroom were journalists.
Prosecutors left the courthouse without commenting to reporters.
In his 177-page ruling that Thao was guilty, Cahill said Thao’s actions separated Chauvin and two other former officers from the crowd, allowing his colleagues to continue restraining Floyd and preventing bystanders from providing medical aid.
“There is proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Thao’s actions were objectively unreasonable from the perspective of a reasonable police officer, when viewed under the totality of the circumstances,” Cahill wrote. He concluded: “Thao’s actions were even more unreasonable in light of the fact that he was under a duty to intervene to stop the other officers’ excessive use of force and was trained to render medical aid.”
Thao had rejected a plea bargain on the state charge, saying “it would be lying” to plead guilty when he didn’t think he was in the wrong. He instead agreed to let Cahill decide the case based on evidence from Chauvin’s 2021 murder trial and the federal civil rights trial in 2022 of Thao and former Officers Thomas Lane and J. Alexander Kueng.
That trial in federal court ended in convictions for all three. Chauvin pleaded guilty to federal civil rights charges instead of going to trial a second time, though he plans a long-shot appeal of his state conviction to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lane and Kueng pleaded guilty to state charges of aiding and abetting manslaughter.
Lane and Kueng received 3 and 3 1/2-year state sentences respectively, which they are serving concurrently with their federal sentences of 2 1/2 years and 3 years. Thao is Hmong American, while Kueng is Black and Lane is white.
Minnesota inmates generally serve two-thirds of their sentences in prison and one-third on parole. There is no parole in the federal system but inmates can shave time off their sentences with good behaviour.
Ex-Minneapolis officer unrepentant as he gets nearly 5 years in George Floyd killing
Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill found Thao guilty in May of aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter.
Well, Touey ol' buddy, funny thing about gangs in America. If you're all there, all working together, and one of you kills one person, that's homicide on all of you.
Ex-cop convicted of George Floyd's murder makes another bid for freedom
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Nov 14, 2023 • 2 minute read
Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn't cause Floyd's death. In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, Chauvin said he would never have pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas forensic pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February this year.
Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn't cause Floyd's death. In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, Chauvin said he would never have pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas forensic pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February this year.
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Chauvin said he never would have pleaded guilty to the charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February. Chauvin is asking the judge who presided over his trial to throw out his conviction and order a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Chauvin, who is serving a 21-year sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, filed the request without a lawyer. He says Dr. William Schaetzel, of Topeka, Kan., told him that he believes Floyd died not from asphyxia from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumour called a paraganglioma, which can cause a fatal surge of adrenalin. The pathologist did not examine Floyd’s body but reviewed autopsy reports.
“I can’t go to my grave with what I know,” Schaetzel told The Associated Press by phone on Monday, explaining why he reached out to Chauvin. He went on to say, “I just want the truth.”
Chauvin further alleges that Schaetzel reached out to his trial attorney, Eric Nelson, in 2021, as well as the judge and prosecution in his state-court murder trial, but that Nelson never told him about the pathologist or his ideas. He also alleges that Nelson failed to challenge the constitutionality of the federal charge.
But Chauvin claims in his motion that no jury would have convicted him if it had heard the pathologist’s evidence.
Nelson declined to comment Monday.
When Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charge in December 2021, he waived his rights to appeal except on the basis of a claim of ineffective counsel.
A federal appeals court has rejected Chauvin’s requests for a rehearing twice. He’s still waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear his appeal of his state court murder conviction.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Nov 14, 2023 • 2 minute read
Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn't cause Floyd's death. In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, Chauvin said he would never have pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas forensic pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February this year.
Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn't cause Floyd's death. In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, Chauvin said he would never have pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas forensic pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February this year.
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Chauvin said he never would have pleaded guilty to the charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February. Chauvin is asking the judge who presided over his trial to throw out his conviction and order a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Chauvin, who is serving a 21-year sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, filed the request without a lawyer. He says Dr. William Schaetzel, of Topeka, Kan., told him that he believes Floyd died not from asphyxia from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumour called a paraganglioma, which can cause a fatal surge of adrenalin. The pathologist did not examine Floyd’s body but reviewed autopsy reports.
“I can’t go to my grave with what I know,” Schaetzel told The Associated Press by phone on Monday, explaining why he reached out to Chauvin. He went on to say, “I just want the truth.”
Chauvin further alleges that Schaetzel reached out to his trial attorney, Eric Nelson, in 2021, as well as the judge and prosecution in his state-court murder trial, but that Nelson never told him about the pathologist or his ideas. He also alleges that Nelson failed to challenge the constitutionality of the federal charge.
But Chauvin claims in his motion that no jury would have convicted him if it had heard the pathologist’s evidence.
Nelson declined to comment Monday.
When Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charge in December 2021, he waived his rights to appeal except on the basis of a claim of ineffective counsel.
A federal appeals court has rejected Chauvin’s requests for a rehearing twice. He’s still waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear his appeal of his state court murder conviction.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Ex-cop convicted of George Floyd's murder makes another bid for freedom
Ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Ex-cop convicted of George Floyd's murder makes another bid for freedom
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Nov 14, 2023 • 2 minute read
Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn't cause Floyd's death. In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, Chauvin said he would never have pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas forensic pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February this year.
Chauvin was convicted in the killing of George Floyd. Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn't cause Floyd's death. In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, Chauvin said he would never have pleaded guilty to the federal charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas forensic pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February this year.
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his federal civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd, saying new evidence shows that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
In a motion filed in federal court Monday, Chauvin said he never would have pleaded guilty to the charge in 2021 if he had known about the theories of a Kansas pathologist with whom he began corresponding in February. Chauvin is asking the judge who presided over his trial to throw out his conviction and order a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Chauvin, who is serving a 21-year sentence at a federal prison in Arizona, filed the request without a lawyer. He says Dr. William Schaetzel, of Topeka, Kan., told him that he believes Floyd died not from asphyxia from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumour called a paraganglioma, which can cause a fatal surge of adrenalin. The pathologist did not examine Floyd’s body but reviewed autopsy reports.
“I can’t go to my grave with what I know,” Schaetzel told The Associated Press by phone on Monday, explaining why he reached out to Chauvin. He went on to say, “I just want the truth.”
Chauvin further alleges that Schaetzel reached out to his trial attorney, Eric Nelson, in 2021, as well as the judge and prosecution in his state-court murder trial, but that Nelson never told him about the pathologist or his ideas. He also alleges that Nelson failed to challenge the constitutionality of the federal charge.
But Chauvin claims in his motion that no jury would have convicted him if it had heard the pathologist’s evidence.
Nelson declined to comment Monday.
When Chauvin pleaded guilty to the federal charge in December 2021, he waived his rights to appeal except on the basis of a claim of ineffective counsel.
A federal appeals court has rejected Chauvin’s requests for a rehearing twice. He’s still waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether it will hear his appeal of his state court murder conviction.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Ex-cop convicted of George Floyd's murder makes another bid for freedom
Ex-Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin is making another attempt to overturn his civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Fentanyl
W-18, Carfentanil Haven't heard of them? You have now. Get out there and try it. It must be fun if so many are doing it. It's every second word in the media advertising it 24/7. Does media lingering on a drug advertise it sparking interest in trying it?
forums.canadiancontent.net
Supreme Court rejects appeal of former Minneapolis cop convicted of killing George Floyd
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 1 minute read
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd.
The justices did not comment in leaving in place state court rulings affirming Chauvin’s conviction and 22 1/2-year sentence.
Chauvin’s lawyers argued that their client was denied a fair trial in 2021 because of pretrial publicity and concerns for violence in the event of an acquittal.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism that is still playing out.
Chauvin is separately appealing his conviction on federal civil rights charges.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Published Nov 20, 2023 • 1 minute read
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd.
The justices did not comment in leaving in place state court rulings affirming Chauvin’s conviction and 22 1/2-year sentence.
Chauvin’s lawyers argued that their client was denied a fair trial in 2021 because of pretrial publicity and concerns for violence in the event of an acquittal.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.”
Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism that is still playing out.
Chauvin is separately appealing his conviction on federal civil rights charges.
Supreme Court rejects appeal of former Minneapolis cop convicted of killing George Floyd
The Supreme Court rejected Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin's appeal of his conviction for second-degree murder in the killing of George Floyd
Apparently, there's a video that has come out that questions the whole episode of Floyd. Because it does question it (I don't have any idea how true things presented are as I haven't watched it - only the trailer which says that according to the coroner he died of an OD & not from strangulation). Wonder how long that will be available for the public to see & I'd want to see proof of the autopsy & other claims being made in the video. There is additional video showing Floyd doing exactly the same thing the year previous - taking drugs b4 police can arrest him. Boy, are these interesting days 
Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison: Report
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Nov 24, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s lawyers and the FBI.
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal penitentiary in Florida.
It is also the second major incident at the Tucson federal prison in a little over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the inmate shouldn’t have had, misfired and no one was hurt.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he’d be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019. It’s another example of the agency’s inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe after Nassar’s stabbing and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a federal medical center in June.
An ongoing AP investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters was brought in last year to reform the crisis-plagued agency. She vowed to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency’s mission is “to make good neighbors, not good inmates.”
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, Peters touted steps she’d taken to overhaul problematic prisons and beef up internal affairs investigations. This month, she told a House Judiciary subcommittee that hiring had improved and that new hires were outpacing retirements and other departures.
But Peters has also irritated lawmakers who said she reneged on her promise to be candid and open with them. In September, senators scolded her for forcing them to wait more than a year for answers to written questions and for claiming that she couldn’t answer basic questions about agency operations, like how many correctional officers are on staff.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Nov 24, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s lawyers and the FBI.
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal penitentiary in Florida.
It is also the second major incident at the Tucson federal prison in a little over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the inmate shouldn’t have had, misfired and no one was hurt.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he’d be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019. It’s another example of the agency’s inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe after Nassar’s stabbing and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a federal medical center in June.
An ongoing AP investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters was brought in last year to reform the crisis-plagued agency. She vowed to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency’s mission is “to make good neighbors, not good inmates.”
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, Peters touted steps she’d taken to overhaul problematic prisons and beef up internal affairs investigations. This month, she told a House Judiciary subcommittee that hiring had improved and that new hires were outpacing retirements and other departures.
But Peters has also irritated lawmakers who said she reneged on her promise to be candid and open with them. In September, senators scolded her for forcing them to wait more than a year for answers to written questions and for claiming that she couldn’t answer basic questions about agency operations, like how many correctional officers are on staff.
Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison: Report
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution.
Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison: Report
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak
Published Nov 24, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 3 minute read
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, was stabbed by another inmate and seriously injured Friday at a federal prison in Arizona, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the attack and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that an incarcerated person was assaulted at FCI Tucson at around 12:30 p.m. local time Friday. In a statement, the agency said responding employees contained the incident and performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate, who it did not name, was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation.
No employees were injured and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said. Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s lawyers and the FBI.
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal penitentiary in Florida.
It is also the second major incident at the Tucson federal prison in a little over a year. In November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the inmate shouldn’t have had, misfired and no one was hurt.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he’d be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019. It’s another example of the agency’s inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe after Nassar’s stabbing and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a federal medical center in June.
An ongoing AP investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters was brought in last year to reform the crisis-plagued agency. She vowed to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency’s mission is “to make good neighbors, not good inmates.”
Testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, Peters touted steps she’d taken to overhaul problematic prisons and beef up internal affairs investigations. This month, she told a House Judiciary subcommittee that hiring had improved and that new hires were outpacing retirements and other departures.
But Peters has also irritated lawmakers who said she reneged on her promise to be candid and open with them. In September, senators scolded her for forcing them to wait more than a year for answers to written questions and for claiming that she couldn’t answer basic questions about agency operations, like how many correctional officers are on staff.
Ex-officer Derek Chauvin, convicted in George Floyd’s killing, stabbed in prison: Report
The attack happened at the Federal Correctional Institution.
Aww, poor muffin.
Who cares.
If Derek went by Denise, Wackadoodle would be having shit fits.
Derek Chauvin's family has received no updates after prison stabbing, attorney says
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And Trisha Ahmed
Published Nov 25, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — An attorney for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, said Saturday that Chauvin’s family has been kept in the dark by federal prison officials after he was stabbed in prison.
The lawyer, Gregory M. Erickson, slammed the lack of transparency by the Federal Bureau of Prisons a day after his client was stabbed on Friday by another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, a prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday that Chauvin was seriously injured in the stabbing. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack. On Saturday, Brian Evans, a spokesperson for the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said: “We have heard that he is expected to survive.”
Erickson said Chauvin’s family and his attorneys have hit a wall trying to obtain information about the attack from Bureau of Prisons officials. He said Chauvin’s family has been forced to assume he is in stable condition, based only on news accounts, and has been contacting the prison repeatedly seeking updates but have been provided with no information.
“As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous,” Erickson said in a statement to the AP. “It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek’s assault was allowed to happen.”
Erickson’s comments highlight concerns raised for years that federal prison officials provide little to no information to the loved ones of incarcerated people who are seriously injured or ill in federal custody. The AP has previously reported the Bureau of Prisons ignored its internal guidelines and failed to notify the families of inmates who were seriously ill with COVID-19 as the virus raged through federal prisons across the U.S.
The issue around family notification has also prompted federal legislation introduced last year in the U.S. Senate that would require the Justice Department to establish guidelines for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and state correctional systems to notify the families of incarcerated people if their loved one has a serious illness, a life-threatening injury or if they die behind bars.
“How the family members who are in charge of Derek’s decisions regarding his personal medical care and his emergency contact were not informed after his stabbing further indicates the institution’s poor procedures and lack of institutional control,” Erickson said of the prison.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday evening.
The Bureau of Prisons has only confirmed an assault at the Arizona facility and said employees performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation. The Bureau of Prisons did not name the victim or provide a medical status “for privacy and safety reasons.”
Prosecutors who successfully pursued a second-degree murder conviction against Chauvin at a jury trial in 2021 expressed dismay that he became the target of violence while in federal custody.
Terrence Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, told the AP on Saturday that he wouldn’t wish for anyone to be stabbed in prison and that he felt numb when he initially learned of the news.
“I’m not going to give my energy towards anything that happens within those four walls — because my energy went towards getting him in those four walls,” Terrence Floyd said. “Whatever happens in those four walls, I don’t really have any feelings about it.”
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal penitentiary in Florida.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Another of Chauvin’s lawyers, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of the general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he’d be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, was killed May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019. It’s another example of the agency’s inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe after Nassar’s stabbing and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a federal medical centre in June.
At the federal prison in Tucson in November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the inmate shouldn’t have had, misfired and no one was hurt.
An ongoing AP investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters was brought in last year to reform the crisis-plagued agency. She vowed to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency’s mission is “to make good neighbours, not good inmates.”
— Sisak reported from New York City. Associated Press writers Amy Forliti in Minneapolis and Michael Balsamo in New York contributed to this report.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And Trisha Ahmed
Published Nov 25, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 5 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — An attorney for Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd, said Saturday that Chauvin’s family has been kept in the dark by federal prison officials after he was stabbed in prison.
The lawyer, Gregory M. Erickson, slammed the lack of transparency by the Federal Bureau of Prisons a day after his client was stabbed on Friday by another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, a prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages.
A person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Friday that Chauvin was seriously injured in the stabbing. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack. On Saturday, Brian Evans, a spokesperson for the Minnesota attorney general’s office, said: “We have heard that he is expected to survive.”
Erickson said Chauvin’s family and his attorneys have hit a wall trying to obtain information about the attack from Bureau of Prisons officials. He said Chauvin’s family has been forced to assume he is in stable condition, based only on news accounts, and has been contacting the prison repeatedly seeking updates but have been provided with no information.
“As an outsider, I view this lack of communication with his attorneys and family members as completely outrageous,” Erickson said in a statement to the AP. “It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek’s assault was allowed to happen.”
Erickson’s comments highlight concerns raised for years that federal prison officials provide little to no information to the loved ones of incarcerated people who are seriously injured or ill in federal custody. The AP has previously reported the Bureau of Prisons ignored its internal guidelines and failed to notify the families of inmates who were seriously ill with COVID-19 as the virus raged through federal prisons across the U.S.
The issue around family notification has also prompted federal legislation introduced last year in the U.S. Senate that would require the Justice Department to establish guidelines for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and state correctional systems to notify the families of incarcerated people if their loved one has a serious illness, a life-threatening injury or if they die behind bars.
“How the family members who are in charge of Derek’s decisions regarding his personal medical care and his emergency contact were not informed after his stabbing further indicates the institution’s poor procedures and lack of institutional control,” Erickson said of the prison.
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday evening.
The Bureau of Prisons has only confirmed an assault at the Arizona facility and said employees performed “life-saving measures” before the inmate was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation. The Bureau of Prisons did not name the victim or provide a medical status “for privacy and safety reasons.”
Prosecutors who successfully pursued a second-degree murder conviction against Chauvin at a jury trial in 2021 expressed dismay that he became the target of violence while in federal custody.
Terrence Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, told the AP on Saturday that he wouldn’t wish for anyone to be stabbed in prison and that he felt numb when he initially learned of the news.
“I’m not going to give my energy towards anything that happens within those four walls — because my energy went towards getting him in those four walls,” Terrence Floyd said. “Whatever happens in those four walls, I don’t really have any feelings about it.”
Chauvin’s stabbing is the second high-profile attack on a federal prisoner in the last five months. In July, disgraced sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed by a fellow inmate at a federal penitentiary in Florida.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Another of Chauvin’s lawyers, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of the general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he’d be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, was killed May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019. It’s another example of the agency’s inability to keep even its highest profile prisoners safe after Nassar’s stabbing and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski’s suicide at a federal medical centre in June.
At the federal prison in Tucson in November 2022, an inmate at the facility’s low-security prison camp pulled out a gun and attempted to shoot a visitor in the head. The weapon, which the inmate shouldn’t have had, misfired and no one was hurt.
An ongoing AP investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters was brought in last year to reform the crisis-plagued agency. She vowed to change archaic hiring practices and bring new transparency, while emphasizing that the agency’s mission is “to make good neighbours, not good inmates.”
— Sisak reported from New York City. Associated Press writers Amy Forliti in Minneapolis and Michael Balsamo in New York contributed to this report.
Derek Chauvin's family has received no updates after prison stabbing, attorney says
An attorney for Derek Chauvin said Saturday the former police officer's family has been kept in the dark after he was stabbed in prison.
Inmate who stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times is charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And Michael Balsamo
Published Dec 01, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
Derek Chauvin was stabbed in prison 22 times by a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant who told investigators he targeted the ex-Minneapolis police officer because of his notoriety for killing George Floyd, federal prosecutors said Friday.
John Turscak was charged with attempted murder a week after the Nov. 24 attack at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. He told correctional officers he would have killed Chauvin had they not responded so quickly, prosecutors said.
Turscak, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia gang, told investigators he thought about attacking Chauvin for about a month because he is a high-profile inmate, but denied wanting to kill him, prosecutors said.
Turscak is accused of attacking Chauvin with an improvised knife in the prison’s law library around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. Correctional officers used pepper spray to subdue Turscak, prosecutors said. The Bureau of Prisons said employees performed “life-saving measures.” Chauvin was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Turscak told FBI agents interviewing him after the assault that he attacked Chauvin on Black Friday as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, which garnered widespread support in the wake of Floyd’s murder in 2020, and the “Black Hand” symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.
In addition to attempted murder, Turscak, 52, is charged with assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The attempted murder and assault with intent to commit murder charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Turscak is scheduled to complete his current sentence in 2026.
A lawyer for Turscak was not listed in court records. Turscak has represented himself from prison in numerous court matters. After the stabbing, he was moved to an adjacent federal penitentiary in Tucson, where he remained in custody Friday, inmate records show.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s lawyers. His mother, Carolyn Runge Pawlenty, did not immediately respond to a Facebook message.
In a post earlier Friday, Pawlenty said prison officials had told her that Chauvin was in stable condition but were otherwise not forthcoming with details about the assault or his injuries. The Bureau of Prisons said it gave updates to everyone Chauvin asked be notified.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyer at the time, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following the beating death of James “Whitey Bulger” in 2018 and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019.
The attack on Chauvin was the third incident involving a high-profile federal prison inmate in the last six months. Disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed in July at a federal penitentiary in Florida and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski killed himself at a federal medical centre in June.
An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Turscak led a faction of the Mexican Mafia in the Los Angeles area in the late 1990s, going by the nickname “Stranger,” according to court records. He became an FBI informant in 1997, providing information about the gang and recordings of conversations he had with its members and associates.
The investigation led to more than 40 indictments. But about midway through, the FBI dropped Turscak as an informant because he was still dealing drugs, extorting money and authorizing assaults. According to court papers, Turscak plotted attacks on rival gang members and was accused of attempting to kill a leader of a rival Mexican Mafia faction while also being targeted himself.
Turscak pleaded guilty in 2001 to racketeering and conspiring to kill a gang rival. He said he thought his cooperation with the FBI would have earned a lighter sentence.
“I didn’t commit those crimes for kicks,” Turscak said, according to news reports about his sentencing. “I did them because I had to if I wanted to stay alive. I told that to the FBI agents and they just said, ‘Do what you have to do.”’
— Associated Press reporter Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Michael R. Sisak And Michael Balsamo
Published Dec 01, 2023 • Last updated 1 day ago • 4 minute read
Derek Chauvin was stabbed in prison 22 times by a former gang leader and one-time FBI informant who told investigators he targeted the ex-Minneapolis police officer because of his notoriety for killing George Floyd, federal prosecutors said Friday.
John Turscak was charged with attempted murder a week after the Nov. 24 attack at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. He told correctional officers he would have killed Chauvin had they not responded so quickly, prosecutors said.
Turscak, who is serving a 30-year sentence for crimes committed while a member of the Mexican Mafia gang, told investigators he thought about attacking Chauvin for about a month because he is a high-profile inmate, but denied wanting to kill him, prosecutors said.
Turscak is accused of attacking Chauvin with an improvised knife in the prison’s law library around 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 24, the day after Thanksgiving. Correctional officers used pepper spray to subdue Turscak, prosecutors said. The Bureau of Prisons said employees performed “life-saving measures.” Chauvin was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Turscak told FBI agents interviewing him after the assault that he attacked Chauvin on Black Friday as a symbolic connection to the Black Lives Matter movement, which garnered widespread support in the wake of Floyd’s murder in 2020, and the “Black Hand” symbol associated with the Mexican Mafia, prosecutors said.
In addition to attempted murder, Turscak, 52, is charged with assault with intent to commit murder, assault with a dangerous weapon and assault resulting in serious bodily injury. The attempted murder and assault with intent to commit murder charges are each punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Turscak is scheduled to complete his current sentence in 2026.
A lawyer for Turscak was not listed in court records. Turscak has represented himself from prison in numerous court matters. After the stabbing, he was moved to an adjacent federal penitentiary in Tucson, where he remained in custody Friday, inmate records show.
Messages seeking comment were left with Chauvin’s lawyers. His mother, Carolyn Runge Pawlenty, did not immediately respond to a Facebook message.
In a post earlier Friday, Pawlenty said prison officials had told her that Chauvin was in stable condition but were otherwise not forthcoming with details about the assault or his injuries. The Bureau of Prisons said it gave updates to everyone Chauvin asked be notified.
Chauvin, 47, was sent to FCI Tucson from a maximum-security Minnesota state prison in August 2022 to simultaneously serve a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd’s civil rights and a 22 1/2-year state sentence for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyer at the time, Eric Nelson, had advocated for keeping him out of general population and away from other inmates, anticipating he would be a target. In Minnesota, Chauvin was mainly kept in solitary confinement “largely for his own protection,” Nelson wrote in court papers last year.
Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his murder conviction. Separately, Chauvin is making a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea, claiming new evidence shows he didn’t cause Floyd’s death.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, pressed a knee on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd was suspected of trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill.
Bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” His death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Three other former officers who were at the scene received lesser state and federal sentences for their roles in Floyd’s death.
Chauvin’s stabbing comes as the federal Bureau of Prisons has faced increased scrutiny in recent years following the beating death of James “Whitey Bulger” in 2018 and wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein’s jail suicide in 2019.
The attack on Chauvin was the third incident involving a high-profile federal prison inmate in the last six months. Disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar was stabbed in July at a federal penitentiary in Florida and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski killed himself at a federal medical centre in June.
An ongoing Associated Press investigation has uncovered deep, previously unreported flaws within the Bureau of Prisons, the Justice Department’s largest law enforcement agency with more than 30,000 employees, 158,000 inmates and an annual budget of about $8 billion.
AP reporting has revealed rampant sexual abuse and other criminal conduct by staff, dozens of escapes, chronic violence, deaths and severe staffing shortages that have hampered responses to emergencies, including inmate assaults and suicides.
Turscak led a faction of the Mexican Mafia in the Los Angeles area in the late 1990s, going by the nickname “Stranger,” according to court records. He became an FBI informant in 1997, providing information about the gang and recordings of conversations he had with its members and associates.
The investigation led to more than 40 indictments. But about midway through, the FBI dropped Turscak as an informant because he was still dealing drugs, extorting money and authorizing assaults. According to court papers, Turscak plotted attacks on rival gang members and was accused of attempting to kill a leader of a rival Mexican Mafia faction while also being targeted himself.
Turscak pleaded guilty in 2001 to racketeering and conspiring to kill a gang rival. He said he thought his cooperation with the FBI would have earned a lighter sentence.
“I didn’t commit those crimes for kicks,” Turscak said, according to news reports about his sentencing. “I did them because I had to if I wanted to stay alive. I told that to the FBI agents and they just said, ‘Do what you have to do.”’
— Associated Press reporter Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis contributed to this report.
Inmate who stabbed Derek Chauvin 22 times is charged with attempted murder, prosecutors say
An incarcerated former gang member and one-time FBI informant was charged Friday with attempted murder in the stabbing of Derek Chauvin.
Prosecutors urge rejection of ex-cop’s bid to dismiss civil rights conviction in George Floyd murder
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Jan 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — Federal prosecutors urged a judge Friday to reject former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s attempt to overturn his civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin filed his motion in federal court in November, saying new evidence shows that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death, and alleging ineffective counsel by his defense lawyer. He said he never would have pleaded guilty to the charge in 2021 if his attorney had told him about the idea of two doctors, who weren’t involved in the case, who theorized that Floyd did not die from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumor.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Chauvin asked U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, who presided over the federal case, to throw out his conviction and order a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing. Chauvin filed the motion from prison without a lawyer.
In a response filed Friday, lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division urged Magnuson to deny the request without a hearing.
They pointed out that Chauvin knowingly and voluntarily waived his appeal rights when he changed his plea to guilty. And they said he failed to show that his attorney’s performance was deficient, even if the outside doctors had contacted him and even if the attorney did not tell Chauvin. They said the evidence proved that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death.
“The claims Defendant argues that counsel failed to raise are baseless, and counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to raise baseless claims,” they wrote.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his state murder conviction in November, a few days after Chauvin filed his motion to overturn his federal conviction. He is recovering from being stabbed 22 times by a fellow inmate at the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, in late November. He is serving his 20-year federal civil rights and 22 1/2-year state murder sentences concurrently.
torontosun.com
Author of the article:Associated Press
Associated Press
Steve Karnowski
Published Jan 12, 2024 • 2 minute read
MINNEAPOLIS — Federal prosecutors urged a judge Friday to reject former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin’s attempt to overturn his civil rights conviction in the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
Chauvin filed his motion in federal court in November, saying new evidence shows that he didn’t cause Floyd’s death, and alleging ineffective counsel by his defense lawyer. He said he never would have pleaded guilty to the charge in 2021 if his attorney had told him about the idea of two doctors, who weren’t involved in the case, who theorized that Floyd did not die from Chauvin’s actions, but from complications of a rare tumor.
Floyd, who was Black, died on May 25, 2020, after Chauvin, who is white, kneeled on his neck for 9 1/2 minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd tried to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. A bystander video captured Floyd’s fading cries of “I can’t breathe.” Floyd’s death touched off protests worldwide, some of which turned violent, and forced a national reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Chauvin asked U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson, who presided over the federal case, to throw out his conviction and order a new trial, or at least an evidentiary hearing. Chauvin filed the motion from prison without a lawyer.
In a response filed Friday, lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Minnesota and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division urged Magnuson to deny the request without a hearing.
They pointed out that Chauvin knowingly and voluntarily waived his appeal rights when he changed his plea to guilty. And they said he failed to show that his attorney’s performance was deficient, even if the outside doctors had contacted him and even if the attorney did not tell Chauvin. They said the evidence proved that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death.
“The claims Defendant argues that counsel failed to raise are baseless, and counsel cannot be ineffective for failing to raise baseless claims,” they wrote.
The U.S. Supreme Court rejected Chauvin’s appeal of his state murder conviction in November, a few days after Chauvin filed his motion to overturn his federal conviction. He is recovering from being stabbed 22 times by a fellow inmate at the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, in late November. He is serving his 20-year federal civil rights and 22 1/2-year state murder sentences concurrently.
Prosecutors urge rejection of ex-cop’s bid to dismiss civil rights conviction in George Floyd murder
Prosecutors urged a judge to reject former cop Derek Chauvin's attempt to overturn his civil rights conviction in the murder of George Floyd