- "George Floyd moved to Minneapolis in 2014 for a fresh start after being released from prison in Houston, Texas following an arrest for aggravated robbery
- Floyd had turned his life around but died on Monday after a white officer knelt on his neck while arresting him for allegedly paying with a fake $20 bill
- None of the officers could have been aware of Floyd's more than a decade-old criminal history at the time of the arrest
- The 46-year-old had left behind his past in Houston after being released from prison stemming from a 2007 robbery
- He plead guilty to entering a woman’s home, pointing a gun at her stomach and searching the home for drugs and money, according to court records
- Floyd was sentenced to 10 months in jail for having less than one gram of cocaine in a December 2005 arrest
- He had previously been sentenced to eight months for the same offense, stemming from an October 2002 arrest
- Floyd was arrested in 2002 for criminal trespassing and served 30 days in jail
- He had another stint for a theft in August 1998 "
Lessons learned
from the
George Floyd tragedy:
(1)
Don't break the law
(2)
If you do
break the law,
and are arrested,
be polite to police,
and do not resist.
(3)
If you believe your
city has "institutional
racism", find data
to prove that claim.
Data do not
show that
to be true for
U.S. police
departments
in general.
Specific
departments
may differ.
According to
national data,
black suspects
are LESS likely
to be killed by police
than white suspects.
Having ONE exception
on a video does not justify
jumping to a conclusion
about ALL policemen.
Washington Post data
over the past few
years show 24%
of suspects killed
by police were black.
FBI crime statistics
show that black
Americans
are arrested for
about one third
(33%)
of violent crimes
( ranging from
assault to murder ).
If American police
discriminated against
black suspects, then
we'd expect over 33%
of suspects killed by
the police to be black,
not 24%.
Data show white
suspects are more
likely to be killed
by the police than
black suspects,
when an arrest
goes bad.
About 1,000 suspects
are killed by police
each year, with about
20 victims unarmed ...
but unarmed applies
to suspects who try to
get the policeman's gun,
or knock the policeman
down with fists.
Every suspect is "armed"
with two fists for punching,
and two feet for kicking.
For people who prefer
to believe their feelings,
rather than statistics:
If you believe cities run
by Democrat mayors,
sometimes black, who
appoint Democrat police
chiefs, sometimes black,
have "institutional racism",
then consider electing
Republican mayors !
What do you have to lose ?
Rioting, looting and
throwing bricks at police
won't make a city better.
