The nation’s most-followed criminal trial, that of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, is coming to an end. Prosecutors and defense attorneys ended closing arguments Monday after making their cases to jurors following weeks of testimony, allowing jurors to begin deliberation.
Chauvin is facing charges of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter for the death of George Floyd last May. Floyd’s death and a video of Chauvin kneeling on Floyd’s neck recorded by a bystander sparked months-long “racial justice” protests, accompanied with riots, looting, arson, and assault in 140 American cities. The economic damage caused by the protests hit a record number of $2 billion in paid insurance claims. The damage that was done to the public safety as a result of weak politicians’ response to the riots is hard to estimate. Defunding, demoralization, and demonization of the police was a signal to criminals and opportunists to take advantage of the situation.
The trial of Chauvin has for many become a symbolic test of the American justice system’s ability to “hold police accountable.” And if the system fails, then that system will be “burned to the ground,” according to BLM leaders. Should Chauvin’s head not be handed to them, the mob is determined to take action.
Last Friday, Rahim B., a 21-year-old activist, asked during a “Jail Killer Cops” rally in the nation’s capital how long before “people are really ready to get blood on their hands” to “make change happen.” The BLM activists don’t rely on democratic institutions and procedures. “Voting is not gonna bring us this [change],” Rahim said. “We voted in the new president, Joe Biden, but I told folks straight up — Joe Biden ain’t gonna do nothing for us because Joe Biden was in office as the vice-president when the Black Lives Matter movement started and ain’t nothing changed.” He emotionally predicted that “bringing about that change is not going to always be pretty, and it’s not going to be peaceful…. I don’t condemn who loot, I support them for looting. I support people who take matters in their own hands. If you want to set something on fire, go do that.”
In the ongoing Derek Chauvin trial, BLM and its allies have shown no more interest in justice than did Lewis Carroll’s Queen of Hearts. “Sentence first — verdict afterwards,” said the Queen, and when Alice protested, the Queen shouted, “Off with her head!” Fearing the loss of their heads, perhaps literally, too many powerful people stand by mutely as the Minnesota National Guard and Minnesota Police get assaulted, a home that had previously been a residence of one of Chauvin’s defense’s witnesses was vandalized with animal blood and a severed pig’s head, and as the mob circles the courthouse where the trial is taking place.
The situation is the same all over the nation: Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia and many other major cities are bracing themselves for the aftermath of a possible acquittal. Many have called in the National Guard, boarded up businesses, stepped up police presence, canceled all days off for officers and deployed additional officers, and set up barricades. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed an “anti-riot” bill into law, with tougher penalties for people who engage in violent protests. Evidently, no mayor or governor wants to go through the chaos of the “mostly peaceful protests” again. It feels like the big cities are sitting on a barrel filled with gunpowder, and everyone is holding their breath as the jurors are holding the matches.
Although the Chauvin trial gives all the appearance of fairness, it is likely to turn out to be anything but. Certainly, there is a chance that at least one juror would employ a reasonable doubt — “a safeguard that has enormous value in our system,” as it was put in 12 Angry Men. But the more probable resolution of the case might be best described by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’ words: “Due process does not become due process by securing the assent of a terrified jury.” The jurors probably anticipate the consequences for the city and the nation should they vote to acquit. If one or more among them holds out to prevent fellow jurors from handing down an unjust sentence, they have good reason to fear for themselves and their families as well.
Thanks to the violent groups that have been coddled by leftist politicians, the justice system could very well be coerced to make an unjust decision — the “right decision,” as President Biden prays — that would please the blood-thirsty mob, or else.
