Three pieces related to the trial of George Floyd’s murderer, Derek Chauvin (with links to full columns embedded in each headline).
With Chauvin thrice guilty, it’s time to end the riots and start the reforms (April 20):
There remains plenty of time to flesh out all the supposedly cosmic meanings of the thrice-guilty verdict against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, but here are my immediate thoughts.
* The judicial system worked. It usually does. It won’t bring George Floyd back, or eliminate all bad policing, but police are now on notice. And good cops still vastly outnumber bad ones. It’s time to refine and reform the policing system, not tear it down….
The horrible Maxine Waters makes riots more likely (April 19): Yes, congressional Democrats should strip radical Rep. Maxine Waters of California from her committee assignments, but that should be only the beginning of their penance regarding issues related to police.
It is entirely their fault that Congress hasn’t passed bipartisan police reform. It is their fault that radicals can still stir up riots by saying nobody is listening to their pleas for reform and that the only recourse is mayhem….
America has a good judicial system. Riots are NEVER appropriate here. EVER. (April 13): One sign of a sick society is that riots become commonplace in reaction to, well, anything.
Another sign of societal illness is when so many people refuse to inhabit the ample middle ground between “police are inherently racist” and “defend police at all costs.”
Consider the twin police-related tragedies in the Minneapolis area — the death of counterfeit-bill passer George Floyd last year and the April 11 killing of arrest-resisting motorist Daunte Wright. Neither death was acceptable, but only Floyd’s was inexplicable. Yet, both received an immediate and proper response from officials, with investigations beginning quickly and our admirable system of justice revving into gear.
There is absolutely no reasonable excuse for the riots in Minnesota this week after Wright’s killing. Then again, there was no good excuse for riots after Floyd’s horrendous death last May. Protests, yes. Highly impassioned protests, even. But violence? Looting? Arson? No. Not in a free society with ample means of redress for crimes and misconduct….
