On the evening of May 25, 2020, while many Americans were wrapping up their Memorial Day barbecue dinners and cleaning off the remnants of charred meat from their grills, a towering Black man cried out for his mother while he was pinned under a cop’s knee.
Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee into the handcuffed George Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes. His last words were “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me,” according to body camera transcripts.
“George Floyd’s murder sparked a national conversation about police violence, racism and systemic oppression,” Floyd’s family attorney Lee Merritt told Atlanta Black Star.
Floyd’s death shocked the conscience of the nation, although he wasn’t the first Black man who fatally fell victim to excessive force used by sworn officers, nor the first to be caught on video. His desperate pleas for help also weren’t new. It was part of a tragic script that has played out over and over, one where the fallen seemingly knew they were going to take their last breaths.
Related: ‘Malicious Falsehoods’: Mother of George Floyd’s Only Child Files a Quarter Billion Lawsuit Against Kanye West Over Comments About Man’s Death
Now Chauvin and his attorneys have asked Minnesota’s highest court to review his second-degree murder conviction, arguing that he didn’t get a fair trial. They allege the state trial was tainted by public exposure and juror misconduct.
“We’re very hopeful that the Minnesota Supreme Court will accept review of the case,” the ex-cop’s lawyer William Mohrman told The Associated Press.
Chauvin wasn’t deterred by any of Floyd’s words or the pleas of the bystanders who voiced their concerns for the 46-year-old’s life. Reports later revealed the white cop of 19 years had a history of using his knee to restrain Black citizens. He had 18 official complaints on his record and was involved in a fatal police shooting. Chauvin was…
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