One went the private sector route, the other continued his crimes under the guise of “public service”. And now we are learning that these two had a history. They had both previously worked together at a nightclub, and didn’t get along, apparently. Before murdering Floyd, Derek Chauvin had racked up a long list of complaints over misconduct, 16 in fact. This, while hiding behind the badge that shielded his actions. The valorization of either Floyd or Chauvin depends on the side one takes in the manufactured cultural conflict that has arisen around Floyd’s death. But you don’t have to take a side. You can recognize the fact that Floyd had a criminal history, but also that he was clearly murdered by a casual psychopath who believed he was above the law. You can be for reform while also being against the burning of American cities. American cops kill around 1,000 citizens every year, a far higher rate than other Western nations. The United States has the highest incarceration rate in the world. These are outrages, and the outrage should be bipartisan. But more Americans aren’t seeing it that way because they’ve been baited into fighting a race-based culture war rather than joining together to demand meaningful change.
