In this blog, I am going to try to trace the "Chain" of events that at it's end was the death of George Floyd.
I think that we all in agreement that George Floyd should not have ended up dead at the end of the series of events that ended with his death. I am going to go thru them one at a time and give my position on how at each of these events George Floyd's death could have been prevented. Note also that at each event there is someone who is responsible for what eventually happened. You could examine the "chain" starting from either end and in this case, I am going to start at the beginning of the "chain" rather than at the end.
(1) The "chain" started with the birth of George and his father. It does not appear that George's father did a very good job to prepare him for his life ahead. He should have been taught to cooperate with the police when ever he had any confrontation with them and depend on the legal system to treat him fairly.
Responsible party-------George's father
(2) The next step was also the responsibility of George's father. He should have taught his child to obey the law or risk the consequences. George had a history of breaking the law including his use of drugs and his attempt to pass counterfeit money which lead to this encounter with the police.
Responsible party-------Both George and his father
(3) The next step was the actions of George prior to the event where he consumed a large amount of drugs to the point that he was near death from the drugs. Like any drunk, his self induced inability to think or act rationally made him vulnerable to precipitating painful actions by the police.
Responsible party--------George
(4) Next, when George encountered the police, he clearly resisted arrest. The police spent several minutes trying to convince George to cooperate and get out of his car and get into the police car. George resisted to the point that he ended up on the ground next to the police car and would not get up and get into the police car. Had George cooperated, the chain would have ended right there.
Responsible party--------George
(5) Next, the police tried to get George up and into the police car by holding him down until he agreed to get up and cooperate. The police held George down too long because they did not understand George's health condition. If they had called for more help and physically put George into an ambulance the event would have ended safely.
Responsible party---------Police
I think that from my list, this whole event could have been avoided by responsible actions by George's father a total of 2 times, by George 3 times and the police 1 time. All need to be held responsible, not just the police and the city of Minneapolis who paid millions to George's family.
