A violent crime was committed on U.S. soil against a U.S. citizen at the hands of U.S. police officers who had a duty to protect and serve the citizens of your state.
U.S. citizen George Floyd suffered damage to his person while in police custody that led to his death and the damage done to him was recorded by another U.S. citizen and witnessed by other U.S. citizens who were begging the four police officers to act according to the standards of their jobs. They could see that what the police officers were doing to George Floyd was wrong and as American citizens, they spoke out. The officers continued their harmful and life threatening actions even as the citizens that pay their salaries were calling for them to stop using their power to unnecessarily bring bodily harm to this man. A man who had not yet even been given due process or charged by a court with any crime
As the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, as a woman who has served in some form of legal capacity for decades, you know that this man’s civil rights were violated.
You yourself describe this as, “…an incredibly disturbing and horrific loss of life.”
It is a loss of life that resulted due to actions that clearly show that officers acted in a way that overwhelmingly indicates that they had no regard for this man’s civil rights or his life.
Citizens were begging these officers to stop. Citizens were calling these officers to a higher standard. Citizens had to shout to remind these officers that this man’s basic human rights were being violated. If citizens could see that rights were being violated here, then this should be clear to a U.S. Attorney and anyone up the chain of command in the U.S. Attorney’s office.
You were appointed by President Trump as United States Attorney of Minnesota. Resist the temptation to tow the party line. Resist the temptation to make this a partisan issue where you have to appease anyone in power and ensure your rise to higher appointments in your career by serving anything less than a thorough investigation that results in a justice that you know is due in this case. Resist the temptation for yourself or anyone who works for you to accept questionable details of this case as truth if you suspect in any way that corruption and the intention to suppress evidence is apparent. Do not allow justice to be hindered in any way by any body no matter powerful they may be.
As a woman who has risen to the level of power you have, you know that there are people in power that want to suppress your ability to enjoy your full rights as an American citizen and a human being. So you should understand completely how those same forces are constantly at work against people of color and how that manifests in law enforcement in your city and across this nation. People use their power to deprive marginalized groups of their rights on a daily basis.
You have the power of the American government to take full action against this ever happening again. Use your voice. Use your position. Use what you know as a woman about how white male power operates in this country to disenfranchise citizens that are not white and male of their rights.
You must determine that these officers violated federal laws and George Floyd’s civil rights. These officers used the powers bestowed upon them as agents of the law to deprive George Floyd not only of his rights as a citizen, but his basic right and need as a human being to BREATHE!!!