Everyone
knows the story by now. A Minneapolis
cop subdued an arrestee, George Floyd, and kept his knee on Floyd’s neck for an
extended period of time, allegedly despite Floyd’s protestations that he
couldn’t breathe. Other cops stood by
and watched. Soon thereafter, Floyd
died, presumably of suffocation. Few
people are surprised that the incident caused protests, which turned into riots
and looting, which in turn caused many
millions of dollars in property damage and at least one death. While the riots and looting are nonsensical, such
criminal behavior grew out of the protests which, it appears, were rooted in
claims of racism.
Based
on this, politicians and multiple levels of law enforcement were quick to jump
into the mix, declare not only the cop’s guilt but also his racial motivation, and
then kick-start their investigations. There’s
even a federal probe into this alleged homicide, which is normally a routine state matter. But could all of the mayhem and
millions of dollars in damage have been avoided if, instead of launching an investigation, the local Minneapolis
prosecutors simply treated this case like a run-of-the-mill homicide?