The Corrupted Trial of Derek Chauvin

Posted on by Pete Cross

There is no such thing as the police being completely faultless, after all being human keeps us from being perfect. So when it comes to police being on trial, there should not be any particular viewpoint, each case a measure of a singular set of circumstances.   

However, the Derek Chauvin trial has badly shaken my confidence in the American judicial system where a visceral jury has been swayed by video and audio sound bites and rendered incapable of discerning fact from fiction.

This conclusion will not be popular with most segments of society, even some cops– for it goes against the grain, it goes against even the middle of the road liberal, it goes against what the mind is perceiving in a few seconds of videotape. This trial was originally framed as a measure of the level of racism in policing, about a white cop and a black innocent. None of that was true either as there was never any evidence ever produced of this case being about race. 

The circumstances in the death of George Floyd brought forward three charges against police officer Derek Chauvin; second degree unintentional murder which required proof of the “intentional infliction of substantial bodily harm”; third degree murder which alleged that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death by “perpetrating an act eminently dangerous to others and evincing a depraved mind, without regard to human life”;  and second degree manslaughter which alleged that Chauvin caused Floyd’s death by culpable negligence whereby the person creates an unreasonable risk, and consciously takes chances of causing death or great bodily harm”.

As most are aware, reasonable doubt is the prosecutorial hurdle which must be climbed and surmounted in all criminal trials both in the United States and Canada.  

Unfortunately, for the State and the masses demanding retribution, doubt was in evidence throughout this entire trial; doubt as to the cause of death, doubt as to the intent of Chauvin which was necessary to prove two of the three murder charges; doubt as to the lead up circumstances, and even doubt as to the political motivation of the State Attorneys. 

The third degree murder charge which was added at the last minute should have been thrown out with little fanfare, in fact both murder charges should not have been under consideration when one watched and allowed the evidence to unfold. The only charge which should have some examination was the second degree manslaughter. 

This case was televised and with the usual hyperbole some media outlets called in the trial of this century. Kindling to the fire of the reflexive cries of racism. Black lives concerned groups were quick off the mark, any confrontation between a white police officer and a black male should be a foregone conclusion.  With the aid of pressurized full throated liberal media and a captured television audience the protests began, followed by the rioting and looting. 

The activists of the black movement in Minneapolis from the outset, before the trial even started, proclaimed that if “they” do not get a guilty verdict the town will burn to the ground; they demanded not only a guilty verdict but a sentence worthy of murder charges. A life sentence was presumed to be the only way of satisfying this carnivorous crowd. 

The usual attention seeking personalities, celebrities and politicos filled the airwaves, before the trial, during the trial and after the trial. The message theme was that there was no need for a trial, the evidence so obviously clear of Chauvin’s guilt. No heed should be paid to the Constitution and the need for due process after all –we have video.

There is only one truth, their single unassailable truth.

The reporting so blatantly slanted that as one followed along, one began to question if you were in fact watching the same trial and the evidence that was being presented. The news photos they released were of Chauvin as he was being booked –dressed in an orange prisoner jump suit, staring straight faced and pale at the camera— Floyd is in civilian clothing, leaning nonchalantly against a brick wall. 

Chauvin’s trial began to take on the feel of a political and social lynching.

Chauvin throughout the trial sat erect, disciplined, robotic, attentively writing on a yellow pad of legal paper which never seemed to grow in size. Neatly attired with a mid-level suit and tie, the picture of a cop getting ready to testify. His eyes only visible above his Covid mask, his eyes the only measurable hint of humanity and the emotions laying deep within.

This case also raised some serious questions that should have been asked of the District Attorney’s office and their conduct in this case. They were proven to have withheld evidence, not allowed a witness in the car with Floyd to testify, and have tried to bury the defence with last minute loads of information. They argued against their own Pathologist who performed the autopsy and not satisfied with his findings, began a country wide search for “experts” —an opinion that could aid their public theory. 

The case and the circumstances were nuanced and understanding required an open mind to details.

The State attorneys constant mantra from beginning to the closing argument was “believe your eyes”.  They were counting on emotions to carry the day, their clear hope was that by playing incessantly a few seconds of Chauvin leaning on the neck of Floyd, that the emotion generated would carry the jurors to only those selected few minutes and away from some of the facts that were problematic. 

One must also remember that the City of Minneapolis before the trial started announced a $27 million settlement for the Floyd family. A historic amount. The timing of this was at the very least unethical and jeopardized finding an impartial jury. The defence rightly asked for a change of venue and the sequestering of the jury. All were denied despite the crescendo of media and public voices speaking for a guilty finding. 

The first State witnesses were representative of the prosecutor’s theme of emotion over fact. They were asked and allowed to testify as to their “feelings” in this case, how it had affected their daily lives in witnessing the death of Floyd. This should have been ruled completely irrelevant, but strangely was allowed to be admitted; setting up further grounds for an appeal. 

The cause of death, which was clearly central to all three charges was where the State’s case was the weakest. 

The State pathologist, Hennepin County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker, in the post mortem of  George Floyd said categorically that the cause of death was: “cardiopulmonary arrest during law enforcement subdual, restraint and neck compression”. Other contributing factors were “coronary disease” the use of fentanyl and methamphetamine. He further testified to the stress of Floyd’s arrest having “overwhelmed his already burdened heart”, that it “tipped him over the edge”.  So in your opinion Dr. Baker, the defence counsel Mr. Nelson asked: “both the heart disease as well as the history of hypertension and the drugs that were in his system played a role in Mr. Floyd’d death?” “In my opinion, yes” replied Dr. Baker. 

The State Attorneys wanted on the other hand to prove that Mr. Floyd died from “positional asphyxia “, resulting form the knee on the neck.  So here they were faced with their own pathologist testifying that the knee, according to Dr. Baker did not “did not anatomically cut off Mr. Floyd’s airway.” Dr. Baker pointed to the fact that there never was any physical evidence of asphyxia ever brought forward no bruising, no hyoid damage as would be expected in such a case. 

We learned that the State met with the Pathologist several times over a few months, and when the results of Dr. Baker went stubbornly unchanged, their only recourse was to seek an outside “expert” opinion. This is a tactic usually reserved for defence counsel in trials.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. There were fifty case agents assigned, twenty additional agents from the FBI, and fifty members of the Minnesota Police Department. They interviewed all the command and training staff and two hundred civilian witnesses. Twelve warrants were executed (mysteriously two alone on the vehicle Floyd was in). They then provided to the defence fifty thousand pages of evidentiary documents, the classical information dump trying to drown out resource limited opposition.  

The medical expert the State found was Dr. Tobin a pulmonologist from Ireland; who after watching hundreds of hours of videotape, over and over again, came to the conclusion that in his opinion, that Mr. Floyd being face down, was unable to breathe and therefore died of positional asphyxia. He testified that the weight of Chauvin, 23% of which was transferred on to the neck and back of Mr. Floyd was what killed the victim. Chauvin is 5’9” and 140 lbs, Mr. Floyd was 6’3” and 230 lbs. His evidence was that a maximum of  32 lbs could have been transferred on to the body of Floyd at any given times, the weight shifting from the back, the shoulders and the neck. 

Defence counsel produced other experts who confirmed the findings of the State pathologist Dr. Baker. In cross examination of Dr. Tobin, and in their witness Dr. Folwler the defence produced twenty-three studies showing that — being face down on the ground, even if “hog tied” or “hobbled” ( the more drastic methods of police condoned restraint)  in a normal healthy human being, would not cause death.  It turns out all the teachings of it being a lethal position to put someone in stems from a study in the 1980’s. All agreed that Mr. Floyd was not a healthy individual by any measure. 

The State’s Attorney argued that the “speed ball “ of fentanyl and methamphetamine would not have played a role, since Floyd would have a life long “tolerance” to drugs. They did not prove this conclusion and glossed over the fact that Floyd had twice the fatal limit of fentanyl and was passed out in the vehicle prior to the police arrival after having consumed the drugs. 

In terms of the drugs Mr. Floyd had taken, the State, in a highly suspicious decision, refused to grant immunity to Morries Hall, who was believed to be Mr. Floyd’s drug dealer and in the vehicle with him at the time of the incident. By not granting immunity, which only the State could do, this forced Hall “plead the fifth” and not testify — therefore not incriminate himself.  In the American criminal system the defendant is entitled to a fulsome defence, it would be hard to argue that a key witness being excluded by the State, who may have provided a lethal dose of drugs to Floyd was not allowed to testify was highly unethical and manipulative. 

Hall, who had been basking in the limelight after the death of Floyd,had left the State, but was eventually arrested in Texas for other charges. He never testified. The Judge ruled that he could not review the State decision not to allow him immunity, as that was an executive decision and not subject to the review of the judiciary. 

The original call by the employees of the store came in at 8:02 pm on May 25th to the intersection of 38th and Chicago in Minneapolis, a high crime and largely black neighbourhood.  The store employee in calling in the complaint described Floyd as being “intoxicated” due to his erratic behaviour in the the store and described him as “a large man.” 

Dispatch requests that the first car respond Code 3 (lights and siren).  At 8:04 the police car with Officers Lane and King arrives at the scene and are directed to the Mercedes SUV across the street —where a passed out George Floyd sits in the driver seat. At 8:10 the dispatcher hears them struggling with Mr. Floyd and Chauvin now heads to the scene for backup, once again Code 3. 

At 8:11 Floyd is removed from the car, and an all clear signal is given at 8:12. 

Chauvin slows down, parks and walks up to the other two officers at 8:17 as the two other officers once again, begin to struggle to put Floyd in the car. 

Mr. Floyd is erratic, shouting inanities, and screaming he “can’t breathe”.  

At 8:18 Chauvin begins to wrestle with Mr. Floyd as well. 

At 8:19 the struggling stops and they are containing the handcuffed Floyd and Mr. Floyd is on the ground with two officers pinning his legs, and officer Chauvin on his back. 

At 8:21 the ambulance is called as the officers believe that this is a more medical emergency due to Floyd’s use of drugs. Paramedics arrive five or six minutes later and because of the hostility of the crowd, they do a “load and go”, wanting to remove him from the area before treating.  

The State alleged that Mr. Chauvin was shoving Mr. Floyd’s face into the “unyielding pavement”, “lacerated his knuckles” described the pavement “tearing into his skin” while the “horrified bystanders..watched it unfold”. Bystanders pointed to the blood coming from Mr. Floyd’s nose. This was when Floyd hit himself into the shield in the back of the police car. The bystanders pointed to the fluid on the ground near Floyd, believing that he had urinated. The fluid was actually from the nearby police vehicle. 

It was the State’s argument that Chauvin then began to “assault Mr. Floyd” by keeping him in the face down position and having a knee on his back, shoulder, and neck area. The defence argued that in fact, he was complying with his training, and using a taught restraining method and continued to hold him down due to the passive resistance by Floyd. 

The State argued that the Mr. Floyd was no danger to anyone, that this was an “assault”, a felony level of assault, that Chauvin was “doing it on purpose” and that he was “not following the rules”.  Not only, they argued, must you “trust your eyes”, they asked the jury to read the “body language”. They implored that it  showed that Chauvin was exhibiting an “ego based pride”. 

They argued further that Mr Floyd did not want to get into the squad car, because he was “claustrophobic” and that he was “experiencing a crisis”. Mr. Chauvin they opined should have recognized that as  the crowd grew and hissed around him, he should have offered aid, and maybe even done CPR. The police should have “re-assessed about putting him in the car”. 

The State grudgingly admitted that there were “other causes” contributed to Floyd’s death—but that did not relieve him from his “responsibility”. The State argued in their closing that Mr. Chauvin had “intentionally applied unlawful assault” and “intentionally inflicted bodily harm” all while wearing a body cam, was surrounded by other body cams, was being videotaped by onlookers and was at an intersection of city surveillance cameras. 

All admitted, including the State, that the arrest, attempts to put him in the police car, and then the putting him on the ground was “reasonable” for a police officer to do under these circumstances, putting him face down was ok, it was just the length of time that it was done which warranted two murder charges. One could argue that the charge of manslaughter was debatable, if you believed Chauvin should have been fully aware of Floyd’s medical stress throughout but the intent needed for the murder charges simply was not there. 

The circumstances and how the events unfolded is straightforward. The call for the police, the attendance by the police, the arrest of a struggling Mr. Floyd, the wrestling of Mr. Floyd to the ground plays out hundreds of times every day across North America. It should be pointed out that none of this was about Mr. Floyd being black, the police came because they were called and they performed a legitimate arrest of the alleged suspect. 

No officer should be smug in viewing this trial play out. No officer should assume that the intersecting of circumstances that transpired in this case is somehow unique. No officer should assume that the cloud of alleged racism could not darken and obscure any set of investigational facts. 

Due process and the right to a fair trial should no longer be assumed in any courtroom in the United States; nor in this country. 

This case is a bell wether and should give every police officer pause. Your very ability to function as a police officer now needs to be viewed through this prism of mob driven social justice which now demands perfection in all actions and deeds and starts with an assumption of presumed guilt. 

There is no officer who has worked the streets who has not handcuffed a subject and placed him on the ground and knelt on his back or neck. I know of no officer who has heard screams from the suspect that they were in pain or hurt, or demanding real or imagined medical attention. I know of no officer who has not had to arrest an intoxicated or high suspect who is combative. I know of no officer who has not been called derisive names or had insults hurled at them from a distance. I have never heard of an officer who has not been accused of being racist if that officer happens to be working in a racially diverse atmosphere, which includes those officers of colour or a different ethnicity. And in this day and age I know of no officer who has not been videotaped by an onlooker or a suspect. 

In other words, every street police officer could have been the one sitting in the seat of Derek Chauvin. 

Every officer could have their senior managers with their finger raised, testing the political winds, testify as to your contravention of the policy, your dereliction in not caring enough or showing enough empathy. Your fellow workers could come forward to second guess, to exclaim that they would never have left that knee on the neck to suppress a prisoner, well, maybe for a short time, but they would have had the good sense to not do it for as long as Officer Chauvin. They know better. Your life and your very freedom could come tumbling down around you for not paying strict attention to the instantaneous ebb and flow of those overly simplistic classroom “use of force” models. 

The jury verdict was reached after about eight hours of deliberation. “Guilty” on all three counts. This was not even enough time to analyze the three counts in any depth or review the evidence of thirty eight witnesses. Clearly the jury had made up their mind early, they had “trusted their eyes” as they had been directed by the State. Possibly they worried about their city being enveloped by violence, the place where they work and live.

President Biden clearly was not worried about interfering in the judicial system. He called the Floyd family prior to the verdict being rendered —saying that the evidence was “overwhelming”. Maxine Walters a black Representative in Washington, again before the verdict, urged the black community to offer resistance to the police if there was a not guilty verdict.  

Fast and predictable, Chauvin had no chance. Street festivals broke out, the mob now dancing around the flames, with the head of Chauvin on a stake. 

Biden and his Vice President Kamala within hours called a press conference. They thanked the jury and announced that they had proposed the “George Floyd Justice and Policing Act”, in honour of Mr. Floyd. Strange bed fellows for the Democrats, as this is the George Floyd who had multiple “brushes with the law”, including five years for armed robbery in 2007, where a pregnant woman was assaulted and robbed, a gun allegedly pointed at her pregnant stomach. 

Justin Trudeau welcomed the American verdict. 

These are indeed very dangerous times. The far left has now become indistinguishable from the far right. The Nation has officially divided.  

Black history in America has been troubled, fraught with slavery, discrimination and violence. The Mississippi and Louisiana of the 1960’s, segregation, and the impoverishment of the disadvantaged will forever be a blemish on the American being. However, an unjust verdict, a revenge seeking verdict, will never right the wrongs of the past. Even Dr. King would be embarrassed, as all Americans should be embarrassed.

Photo courtesy of Lorrie Shaull via Flickr Creative Commons – Some Rights Reserved.

So, how is that “Defunding” going?

Posted on by Pete Cross

We seem to be now living in a world of catchy phrases, facile answers, and overly simplistic diagnosis. We can no longer tolerate complexity. We can no longer live in the world of the grey— black and white answers are being demanded. Daring to disagree or present a counter-point can only lead to banishment. The video and sound bite world is today’s dialogue, inflamed, exaggerated– a fire hose  of outrage, discontent and victimization. We have lost the ability to reflect or to understand nuance. 

It is in this world that the trial of the Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin is about to begin. Accused of the cold-blooded killing of George Floyd. It is in this world that todays frenzied headlines talk about an anti-Asian serial killer who targeted the massage parlours of Atlanta. 

But beneath the obvious conjecture and quick assumptions that instantly become facts there is a deeper layer. It is found in the folder of corroborated and tested information where historically you would have gone first. Once opened, you would be exposed to something completely at variance to the various assertions voiced by the indignant social warriors. 

Joe Biden is travelling to meet up with the Asian American community today, to console and pledge to fight the anti-Asian racist scourge, yet, there is literally no evidence that the killings in Atlanta were perpetrated or targeted against Asians. After 24 hours of exclaiming that this was evidence of the xenophobia in America, we are now learning that this individual was sexually twisted and fighting the demons of his religion. 

The “can’t breathe” seconds long George Floyd video that tumbled around the world and generated massive black outrage is not quite the facts that are now reluctantly being exposed. Is it pertinent that Mr. Floyd was screaming that he couldn’t breathe long before he was on the ground? Is it relevant that the subduing of Mr. Floyd was actually a taught restraint position by the Minneapolis Police Department? Is it also relevant that the autopsy showed overdose levels of drugs? It doesn’t matter in this world. The damage has been done, the points scored, the leaders of the day have proclaimed the guilt of officer Chauvin many months ago. 

Even more spine chilling is that even if the world is corrected about the circumstances; there will be no stepping back, no correction for the record, no recanting of the story as originally told.  One needs to go deep into Google search to find any actual circumstances of the Floyd incident. Even then, the inference and headlines remain the same. The City of Minneapolis who seem to have caved to the social guilt, long before trial, have now settled a civil case against the City and awarded the family $27 million. A staggering amount with highly suspicious timing.  

It was the George Floyd incident of course that sent the Black Lives Matter movement from simmering into full boil. Banners and protests filled the news screens for days on end, chants of indignation in front of every thrust microphone. No one could countenance the over-whelming injustice of it all.

Their answer: “Defund the Police”.

These three words had all the characteristics of the perfectly designed cry of anger. It swivelled the focus of the t.v. cameras and the radio talk shows. It was short and easily shouted, obvious in its conclusions, and proposed a simplistic understandable solution. Perfect for the masses who convene on Twitter and Instagram. The police must be “broken” the argument goes, unable to cope with the societal needs of the progressives, ill equipped to recognize this new age of victims and the vulnerable. Like all the headlines of the day this was an inarguable cause.

However, once one got past the slogans and a few months went by, the purveyors of this belief have stumbled. They are unable to deal with the obvious follow up question of how? Their demands and solutions it would now seem were simplistic if not blatantly ignorant.

Nevertheless, most politicians were undeterred and once again the principles of honesty and fairness ran a distant second to the need to appease. Picture the Prime Minister on bended knee on Parliament Hill. Picture Commissioner Lucki forced to kneel with him at the alter of “systemic” racism.  

So, now that a few months have gone by, after a year of COVID ravaging any critical thought in this country, where are we with this defunding?

How is the defundthepolice.org coming along? Have they figured out what they are going to defund? Have they figured out the actual role the police play in this country and how they are going to be replaced?

A search for signs of progress for this movement in Canada is indeed sparse.

One thing that they have managed to do on their .org web site is add up the amount of monies spent on policing in this country.  It is a large number and hard to miss. In this country, policing on the municipal, provincial and Federal level amounts to $15.1 billion.  So the proponents of de-funding almost invariably point to the large amount and then simply conclude that these budgets need to be cut for the mere fact of its overall size. Too big must fail.

The thrust of their main and central policy argument is that “others” are better equipped to respond. They propose that social workers and doctors attend to calls for mental health services. They recommend civilians take over “traffic services”.

They make statements such as “police intervention into an ongoing violent crime is rare”. Domestic disputes and abusive relationships seems to be beyond their level of comprehension or life experience. It is truly a utopian future in their world of alternate policing options. 

Since these more complicated issues are proving to be difficult to countenance they have lately been transitioning their policy options to more simplistic levels. A recent favourable solution is to ask for the removal of the police from the “school” programs. Or if the laws can’t be enforced by their solution matrix then let’s decriminalize all the drug laws.

In this country, thankfully, their efforts are for the most part being completely stymied. They are running headlong into the wall of reality and they are getting an obvious headache. 

In June of 2020 even the City of Vancouver (with its left leaning city government) rejected a 1% cut to their $339 million budget. 

This same month the City of Toronto rejected a 10% cut to their $1.12 billion budget. 

In Victoria, home to those deep political thinkers the “Raging Grannies” were unable to reject the progressives completely; the city settled for a review of the “gender and ethnic component of the police force” but the police have now asked for a 1.5% budget increase.

In NDP led British Columbia, a government who never ignores a good cause, are trying to appease the left by “reviewing” the Police Act to “examine the scope of systemic racism”. Premier Horgan does admit when pushed that the defunding mantra is “a simplistic approach”.

 In Saskatchewan they are moving to more body cams for the police while in Regina, the City counsel have rejected outright any de-funding as the “crime rate is too high”. 

In Manitoba, Premier Palliser says that de-funding is a “no go”. 

In the North West Territories where normally the Indigenous cause reigns supreme, even there, the Justice Minister says that “Indigenous led justice systems” is “not practical”. 

In Montreal the mayor, Valerie Plante says that a cut in funding of $300 million “would be a big and trying conversation”. They have now voted to increase the police budget.

Halifax, no doubt under the influence of its relatively large African American community could only manage to defund its plans to buy an armoured vehicle for the police— giving the monies to the local housing authority. 

The Edmonton Police Service seems to have gone the farthest down the road to placate the disenchanted. It has cut its funding by $5.5 million per year for the next two years, amounting to a 3% budget cut from their $388.8 million dollar budget. They are forming a “four step” process which includes a “community safety and well-being task force”. The Edmonton activist Tesa Williams calls it a “slap in the face”.  

In many ways the activists in Canada are only imitating their counter parts in the United States. After all, aren’t their problems our problems? Isn’t their racism our racism, the long discrimination of African Americans and its often shameful history is our history. Of course, this isn’t true, but nevertheless what’s playing in video feeds in the U.S. now stokes the narrative of this country. So the “defunding” formula is imported in all its silliness no matter its relevance, no matter its history. 

The NYPD, led by the failing Mayor de Blasio, which policies a city of 25% African Americans has gone the furthest, slashing $1 billion from its policing budget. How have they done this? They have reduced or eliminated uniform and civilian overtime by $352 million; and they have moved the School Safety Agents out of the NYPD and moved them to the Department of Education, for another savings of $307.5 million. They have done sundry other small reductions like moving School Crossing Guards from the NYPD at a savings of $55 million. 

The LAPD who police that bastion of wokeness, Los Angelas, slashed $150 million by cutting police hiring. This hiring freeze has a more meaningful effect to be sure, as now the LAPD is at the lowest manpower it has been at in 12 years. It was proposed that the money saved would go to street paving and sidewalk repairs, but that was voted down. 

L.A. even had a plan to send crisis intervention workers to “non-violent 911 calls” but that has not passed the committee stage, no doubt hung up on the fact as to how one would ever determine that a “crisis” would not always have the potential for violence. 

So where does this all leave the police of today? Should recruiters stop going to “career days” at the local high school? Should mid career police officers look to change into carpenters and plumbers or take that on-line course on photography? Seems unlikely.

One just has to remember that everyone wants to play with the lights and siren but no one is rushing into the blood and the guts.  The activists, the politicians of every stripe, and the talking heads will no doubt continue to shriek to the converted of the injustice and the “systemic” discrimination. 

One must be patient, even though it’s not easy to ignore the absurdity. Remember that they are just toggling the sirens and staring in awe at the blue and red lights. They don’t really want to be in the position of answering the calls. As that oft quoted Mr. Einstein said, “reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one”.

Photo Courtesy of Backbone Campaign via Flickr Commons – Some Rights Reserved

Fires burning…

Posted on by Pete Cross

One wondered what would break the journalistic overkill on the Covid virus story. What could possibly interfere with that  endless diatribe of  stories?  The litany of accounts, after a few months were admittedly beginning to weaken slightly, as the practitioners of journalism began to pen items on how to wear a mask, the lack of yeast in the grocery stores, or the various coping skills of young and old when constrained in your individual hovels. The illogical and outright stupid began to blend with fragments of intelligent commentary but in the end it all became a stew of righteous and contradictory dialogues. The science on the virus was not clear then and it is not clear now. 

But fear sells and as such was the underlying theme running throughout the 24 hour news cycle—fear of dying— fear of others—fear of travel—fear of hugging—fear of having to wear masks which turned into fear of not wearing masks. 

The press finally tasting greater ratings after being in decline for the last number of years, fully gave over to the theory that the greater the pronouncement, the greater the fear generated, the more that people would be paying attention to those newscasts. They have always known that a multi-car crash always draws better than a two car fender bender, but this had the greatest potential—the ability to turn the daily infection numbers into a catastrophe of “never been seen before” dimensions.

Television news clearly told the banner producer on “Breaking news”, to just leave it running. Death was everywhere as if posing for the 5th Estate that pursued the glimmers of devestation .  The media became addicted. Pictures of bodies, pictures of people laying in the street, or pictures of gowned and masked fatigued hospital workers, sweat stains outlining their newly lined worried faces. 

In the early simpler days, the press always waited around for the picture or video of the body bagged victim, being rolled from the residence on a gurney. This virus was a new heaven to the throng of journalists who dutifully culled and edited videos from around the world, while sitting safely behind their laptops. Tents full of body bags or mass burial grounds were portrayed every night, over and over again, helping to keep the grim and ominous dark clouds hanging over the future. 

The media generated fear with single minded attention on a scale never seen before. The level of their deceit knew no bounds. Shallow unsubstantiated subjective reporting has now put the mainstream media in Canada in the category of grocery store tabloids. 

So as we entered the fourth month we braced for more covid stories while the death lottery numbers droned on. 

Then out of the blue, with head-snapping alacrity, that same intense media attention all swung south of the border. 

A new crisis was born and this new “crisis “contained all the elements of headline seeking editors and broadcasters; violence, crowds, tear gas, endless videos of police pushing the “innocent”, journalists being “targeted” with pepper bullets. A veritable smorgasbord of tweets, photos and videos were uploaded.  Unverified raw video, no background reporting, just a torrent of information from which to feed this new appetite for fear and consternation.  

Predictably, social media exploded, as did any pretence on the part of the Canadian media establishment of being “journalists”. Subjective, point of view, opinionated journalists have now replaced the old guard that had once prided themselves on being objective, who felt that they had a duty to report the news, not create the news. 

Damn the ethics and standards espoused for the last 100 years. Objective, fact checked and dual sourced reporting was now officially extinct. 

It has been replaced by the simple emphatic declaration stated and then presented as fact.  Black and white prognosis only, no longer room for the grey areas where most problems actually live. They have become accumulators of cellphone clips. Thirty seconds or stories of two hundred characters are now being encouraged, followed, repeated, and disseminated with alarming speed. The new short attention span generation, the selfie generation apparently needs to be satiated. 

Fear for your safety and those out of control police it has been decided now going to replace fear for your health. The death of a middle-aged black man has now been declared more dramatic than an eighty-four year old with “underlying” health’s issues. The fact that in Minneapolis that a man died at the hands of the police was the bonus, the fact that he was black was the ignitor to the combustible fuel of racism. The police were the obvious and easy targets.  

Thus, 21st century social outrage has once again been released. 

The Canadian media was not deterred in their presentations, even though it was hundreds of miles and a country away. They played the outrage at full volume and were then rewarded with Canadians now taking to the streets to protest racial inequality in the United States. Canada was pulled in by its proximity, and the internet pulled in the rest of the world. 

Videos began surfacing in Canada of various incidents throughout the country which the media now deemed as racist or intolerant. No details, no examination, just outright speculation and proclamations. 

The usual liberal fringe interest groups then began to emerge, excited by the prospect of a new fire to flame. The more vocal, outlandish, and hopefully photogenic, the more media attention they would receive. 

The Indigenous in Canada always willing to claim racism no matter the context, climb aboard the racist allegation train, a fresh spotlight pointed at them in which to air their complaints. There was no room or time for a counter narrative. Cameras immediately flashed to an Indigenous chief claiming assault at the hands of the police, which even in its subjective telling seemed dubious. A female is killed by police in Edmonston New Brunswick, which the media immediately imply is suspicious, hints of racism because she is “indigenous”.

Canadian media and much of the American media lives on the left of the political spectrum, so they spin victimization, and excoriate anyone with a counter view. They are thoroughly smitten by the  liberal democratic and “progressive” viewpoint. Everyone must comply with their viewpoint, to do otherwise is to pronounce you an “ist”…racist, chauvinist, misogynist— take your pick. 

Equally disturbing is that the new age politicians aren’t very far behind the media and what is “trending”.  They now always follow the herd. Where and when social media declares a story or video snippet to be of grave significance and it enjoys any kind of momentum, that is where you will now find the politicians. Politicos must be seen as on the leading edge, at the forefront of what is all good and righteous. As the Facebook or Instagram twirl begins to spin out of control a politician can not countenance disagreeing with the mob. Lead the mob, don’t be left behind or you court political insignificance or ostracization. 

So fully armed with a 30 second video clip as full and damning evidence they mount their pulpits; our Prime Minister and Opposition Leaders in full throat bemoaning the new “crisis”.  There is no time for debate or opposition. Trudeau is “deeply alarmed” over the incident involving the Indigenous Chief; Bill Blair comes out form behind the coat tails of Trudeau to chime in that “people across the country deserve answers” (on Twitter of course). The Indigenous Service Minister Marc Miller, on seeing only the initial report, despite any evidence “strongly condemned recent acts of violence by police against Indigenous people.” “I’m pissed, I’m outraged” said this Minister of the Crown using clearly his best Parliamentary language and putting his ignorance on full display.  

Is there anything wrong with this new age of media? Is there anything wrong with this semi-spontaneous “outrage”? The President of the United States is a great player of this game. Is there anything wrong with him standing in front of the White house with his bible, posing for his alt-right followers? Of course. Is there anything wrong with our Prime Minister, on the other side of the political spectrum, dressed in his current costume of long hair and a mask, kneeling amongst those protesting police brutality and systemic racism? Of course. These two individuals are very similar in their hypocrisy and deceit,  just opposite ends of the political stick. 

 It is this disturbing dumbing down of the facts that is the most concerning.  It is sapping intelligence and the need to think. It is crowd think. It is follow the herd and it is also fleeting. The need to react and deal with an issue and explore possible options to resolution is lost as quickly as it developed. The herd always moves on. 

Social media is spontaneous and therefore often leaderless. Its only mantra is that “everyone’s voice matters”, no matter how misinformed or irresolute that voice may be. Slogans and jingos are passing as possible policy. Apparently they want the disassembling of the Minneapolis police department, they just don’t know why or how to do it.

Make no mistake about it there is racism in all parts of the world, including our world. There is no denying of that fact. There are also bad cops, sometimes really bad cops. Why? Because they are human beings. There should be no tolerance for those that breach, but there must be a fair and just investigation as well. Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on the neck of George Floyd will face a trial. The other three officers, standing idly by were also charged. All the evidence will surface at the trial. 

But, George Floyd as a symbol of systemic racism?  A former convict with several convictions; high on fentanyl, and methamphetamine, and found with a baggie of powder at the time of the arrest. His most serious conviction involved him and others doing a home invasion, where he put a gun to the belly of a pregnant woman to force compliance. Is this who should be held up as the next Reverend King? 

A black conservative commentator Candace Owens recently brought up some interesting statistics. A police officer has an 18 1/2 times more chance of being killed by a black man in the United States, than a black man has of being killed by the police. She calls these protests and the black lives matter movement as “smoke and mirrors” in that the statistics simply don’t back up claims of systemic racism by the police. You may not agree with her, but you at least need to be allowed to hear her. The burning books mentality once confined to the right are now coming from the left.

We are truly in very unsettled times. Not because of covid, or riots, but because of the perilous road chosen by the media of this country and the dissolution of debate and learned thought. The media are fomenting fear and dissent in pursuit of remaining part of a social media fabric that now rules this 21st century. The politicians now govern and are being placed in power by implementing the tools of that same social media trade. 

Trump and Trudeau despite their political differences are now holding hands as they skip down this road to that dark spot where image has replaced substance. What it looks like much more important than what it is. 

And if you happen to be a police officer in these times, do not hope for any support from these same politicians, or your superiors, who are now poised to jump on this media driven bandwagon if given any opportunity. Their continued political and managerial existence depends on burning you at the stake.

In the last 48 hours police officers are being charged with new found efficiency,  Chief Saunders, the first black Toronto PD Chief, is running for the exit, and the National Police Federation and RCMP Commissioner Ms Lucki are in hiding. 

You are now officially on your own.