Clayton Ashworth
Contributing Writer
As somebody who likes politics and news it’s hard to avoid the Derrick Chauvin trial, not that I’ve been avoiding it. I have tried to come to some concrete solution about this case but I can’t come to gripes with my competing beliefs.
The video is hard to watch and I’ve seen it more than once. I have two responses. My emotional response is immediate discomfort. I feel like I am seeing something I shouldn’t. Between the yelling of the crowd, the confrontational attitude of the officers and Floyd’s silence at the end it is hard to not think that you just witnessed a murder take place. On an emotional level, I understood the outcry and could relate to the people protesting.
The other side is my rational mind. I am trying to see the justification for the other side. Floyd was certainly not acting like a normal person. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner Office wrote in Floyd’s autopsy that he had, “other significant conditions including arteriosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease; fentanyl intoxication; [and] recent methamphetamine use.” Floyd wasn’t 100 percent sober or in his right mind when he had his confrontation with the officers.
Am I supposed to ignore this fact because of Chauvin’s actions?
Why did Floyd say he couldn’t breathe before the officers put him on the ground?
There is so many unanswered questions that are important before I can decide on the extent of Derrick Chauvin’s guilt.
One of my issues with answering these questions is my mistrust if the media. I don’t trust the media, and I can’t understand the medical terminology in the autopsy. It could be just me. The fact that some sources say he died from only drugs, while others say he died only from Chauvin is the issue.
In this country, we have a major problem where I can’t get simple answers to a national tragedy from the sources who are supposed to provide them.
There is another issue with finding answers to my questions. Am I allowed to say that I think Chauvin shouldn’t be convicted?
Are we allowed in this new world of cancelations to even question whether George Floyd was somewhat at fault on his own killing? These like the other questions I am still searching for. I think we all agree that the killing of George Floyd was a tragedy.
I would like to come out and say my real beliefs about this trial, but I don’t know them. Am I wrong for not having a concrete answer, or am I just overthinking it?
