Politicians Failing to "Do the Right Thing"

The arrogance of American politicians is on display when they congratulate the Chauvin jury for "doing the right thing" (Barack Obama) or coming to the "right verdict" (Joe Biden), or giving the loud Maxine Waters types the justice they demand -- murder! -- with veiled threats  to continuing unrest in the streets.

 Why?

The prosecution witnesses had already made a strong case that Derek Chauvin's actions killed Geoge Floyd.  Why do politicians need to insert themselves up in the hierarchy with the jurors under them as underlings, who came to the same "correct" conclusion the politicians did?

No.  The jurors reached an independent decision.  We hope.

They were not intimidated by what was occuring outside the courthouse during the trial -- we hope -- and only heard the evidence, arguments, and jury instructions in court. The rest of us non-jurors watching at home were treated to commentary, the bench remarks that jurors wore the headphones for and of course, all of the protests happening outside of court and the immediate looting and curfews and National Guard call-ups, etc. in wake of the Duante Wright police killing that took place mid-Chauvin trial.   But....

Can we be honest?

Protestors spent days attacking a double-fenced police station in Brooklyn Center during this trial where the jury was unsequestered.  Two stores were looted to bare shelves, and police defended themselves nightly with sprays, non lethal ammunition, etc.  It was not a picnic or a peaceful street-party protest after dark, after curfew, no matter what media might spin for you...

Judge Cahill clearly did not tell the jurors every single night not to watch the news or any television or media.  He might think he did in retrospect, but we too watched live, remember..

Jurors at home and travelling in to court daily were likely exposed to details of the ("Oh shit!") police killing of the teenager that tried to flee, with the officer immediately admitting responsibility and the streets ramping up with the same anger and rage we saw last summer in Minneapolis that burned a police precinct to the ground and caused $350 million in property damage, not all of it insured, I guarantee you.

Think that did not affect how jurors voted?  Again, it was a very strong case already -- the Daunte Wright shooting coming before the defense took over, the weekend after the prosecution presented solid expert witnesses who had held strong with their facts and scientific studies under cross examination.

Why then?

Why taint the process and the jury's role, which is so much more important than anything any two-bit pundit or politician or protestor on the street has to say?

Think about it too, the message American politicians are sending...

You are saying legislative and executive branch leaders, and minor California Congresswomen too, do not have enough confidence in the judicial process, that it takes street violence, worldwide attention, and national calls by American politicians for ramped-up "confrontation" in order to win justice for a B/black man.  

Maybe on the coasts they believe that.  Even after watching the trial in Judge Cahiill's courtroom.  He did a good job running things, but he should have sequestered the jurors sooner... immediately after the Duante Wright killing broke, definitely, with one juror even residing in Brooklyn Center.  His -- "that's a whole different case and crime" refusal to honor the defense's early and continued requests to sequester the jurors fell on deaf ears.  Cahill simply could not forsee the rage and riots that would spring from the teenager's killing, nor the national attention that makes these cases ripe for political influencing...

So many messages were sent the jurors -- not dogwhistles even -- from the high--security fencing to the soldiers on the courthouse rooftops and the Humvees on the streets to the politician's public statements... how could they not convict on all 3 counts, and give the people what they want?  Did they want the city to burn again, the downtown effectively a shut-down warzone?  All of this was on display daily as they drove into the city to the downtown courthouse...

We'll never know now if it was the weight of the evidence that convicted Derek Chauvin on those three counts, or the extra-curricular nudging to make an example of this white officer who killed a black man-- this time conveniently caught on cameras --  so the Twin Cities metro area can atone for its past sins and return to "normal"...  

How many incompetent Amy Potters do you think are still out here?  My problem with victories of "No Justice = No Peace!" is the next logical assumption in such an equation...

"No Street Theats = No Justice!"  ?

That's not the way the judicial system works.  The elected politicans should stop encouraging future riots and transferring power to the wrong players by pretending it is.