Watching a man die, and die, and die....

 I have watched the trial for murder of former Minneapolis policeman Derek Chauvin.  The coverage of the trial involves the playing and replaying of videos of the death of the man he was apprehending, George Floyd.  It took more than nine minutes for Floyd to expire with his neck under the knee of Officer Chauvin as he repeatedly gasped that he couldn't breathe.

The episode was captured on a cell phone by 17-year-old Darnella Frazier who was on her way to the store  with her 9-year-old cousin when she came upon the scene.  When she saw that George Floyd was in agony, she recorded his ordeal.  She posted her video on the social media later that night, and it circulated around the world.  

Concerns about how law enforcement officers do their jobs became a major issue when a man recorded the police beating Rodney King in 1991 after he was stopped for driving under the influence.  Since then, video recordings have become a major form of evidence for law enforcement and a check on how law enforcement officers are doing their jobs.

Ms. Frazier's video inspired protests throughout the nation and the world.  It captured a moment and an image of a black man desperately pleading for his life in the hands of men who demonstrate that they don't think it matters.  Videos of police killing people are a genre, in fact.  In addition to Ms. Frazier's video, the trial features more from police body cams and security surveillance cameras.  George Floyd's last moments are thoroughly captured on videos.

The agony and desperation of George Floyd is a grim spectacle, and it overshadows what Floyd is saying from the time he is approached in his car to his death.  The police intervention began with a rookie policeman coming up to Floyd as he sits in his car, points his gun at Floyd, and orders him to put his hands on the fucking steering wheel.  Immediately Floyd responds by putting his hands on the wheel and pleads not to be shot.  From that point during the time Floyd is removed from his car to the time he is taken down at the police car and is put to death, he is constantly pleading for his life.  Floyd, understood that as a black man, his death was imminent at the hands of the police.  He seemed convinced that this encounter would conclude with his execution.

Why would he be so convinced?  Because of precedents established in the Twin Cities.  One precedent that is impressed on the mind is the shooting of Philando Castile.  Here is the account of his murder from the Beacon:

 On a Wednesday evening, two days after the Fourth of July in 2016, Philando Castile and his girl friend were returning from grocery shopping.  Her four-year-old daughter was in the back seat.  
A police officer thought the occupants of the car looked like those described in a police bulletin after a bank robbery.  He stopped the car and asked Castile for his driver's license and proof of insurance.  Castile informed the officer that he was armed, and the officer told him not to pull it out.  He said he wasn't, but was reaching for his identification, at which point the officer pulled his gun and fired seven shots into the window of the car.  Five of them hit Castile.  The girlfriend, who was then  ordered to her knees and handcuffed, captured it all on her phone.

The videos of George Floyd's execution by knee record a man pleading for his life, calling out to his dead mother in recognition that he was being processed to join her.   With all the videos, his death can be played time and again.  You can watch him die and die and die.  Grab a beverage, sit back, and join the death watch.  Celebrate America.