What A Day - No Statues For Bad Men

Episode Date: June 4, 2020

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has upgraded charges against George Floyd’s killer Derek Chauvin by adding a charge of second-degree felony murder. The three officers on the scene who did nothing to protect Floyd have also been charged, with offenses that include aiding and abetting second-degree murder. One full week of protests has produced immediate changes nationwide. Confederate statues and other relics to racism have come down in several states. And city council members in Minneapolis are calling to disband the city's police department.And in headlines: the NBA readies plans to resume its season, Defense Secretary Mark Esper opposes then supports using soldiers as police, and Elle Jones becomes the first black woman to be elected mayor of Ferguson.

it's thursday june 4th i'm akilah hughes and i'm gideon resnick and this is what a day reminding you that you can in fact listen to this podcast after curfew that's right you know we talked to the mayors they said as long as you're not listening to the podcast outside it's okay but you know what i say listen to this podcast man do what you gotta do i say go outside and put an earbud in your mayor's ear maybe he'll learn something on today's show racist monuments across the united states come down then some headlines but first the latest Wow. That was a clip of hospital staff applauding protesters as they walked by in New York earlier this week. But let's get into the news. All right. So following days of protests across the country and in other parts of the world, the other officers involved in the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis over a week ago were at long last charged. Derek Chauvin, the officer who killed Floyd, had his charges

upgraded as well. The added charges were a demand, but not the only demand of demonstrators who have been seeking accountability. The announcement came from Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, who took the lead on prosecutions related to the case earlier this week. To the Floyd family, to our beloved community, and to everyone that is watching, I say, George Floyd mattered. He was loved. His family was important.

His life had value. And we will seek justice for him and for you, and we will find it. The very fact that we have filed these charges means that we believe in them. But what I do not believe is that one successful prosecution can rectify the hurt and loss that so many people feel. Wow. So this is a hugely significant development in the prosecution so far. So let's unpack it a little bit. Yeah. So this will be hugely significant development in the prosecution so far. So let's unpack it a little bit. Yeah. So this will be important to understand as the case progresses on the legal front and people refer to these charges in the future. But here's what we know. So Chauvin is

now facing this additional charge of second degree felony murder. That is on top of third degree murder and second degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. And according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, this amended complaint that was filed against Chauvin noted the fact that, quote, police are trained that this type of restraint with a subject in a prone position is inherently dangerous. He knew, they all knew as they were trained. As we know, Chauvin was seen in a nearly nine minute video continuing to kneel on Floyd's neck while Floyd laid face down on the street, repeatedly saying that he couldn't breathe. So that is the news on the charges against Chauvin. And when it comes to the other officers on the scene, all three were charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony,

as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter with culpable negligence. They are now fired officers to Tao, who was on video watching Chauvin as he continued to press on Floyd's neck, Alexander King, who helped to pin Floyd down, and Thomas Lane, who pointed a gun at Floyd before he was handcuffed. Yeah, you know, I would also love to see some accountability for the county medical examiner for that initial autopsy that was obviously bullshit.

We're still waiting on that, but this is really good news. The charges also noted that Floyd was, quote, calm after he was first arrested and before Chauvin kneeled on his neck. Floyd told the first two officers at the scene that he wasn't resisting arrest and didn't want to get into the back of their car because he was claustrophobic.

Gideon, where does this case go from here? Yeah, I think we're going to find out pretty soon how this moves and in what exact direction. But one more note on where we are at the moment. According to the Star Tribune, the prosecution of these officers is the fastest in Minnesota history for officers killing civilians on the job. I think that says a lot. It's also the first time more than one officer involved in an incident has been criminally charged. And three officers, only three in the state, have previously been charged for such crimes, and only one was convicted at trial.

And that is perhaps why A.G. Ellison also acknowledged yesterday that getting a conviction in this case is going to be hard, even though the world has seen what these officers have done with their own eyes. The reason thoroughness is important is because every single link in the prosecutorial chain must be strong. It needs to be strong because trying this case will not be an easy thing. Winning a conviction will be hard. In fact, County Attorney Freeman is the only prosecutor in the state of Minnesota who has successfully convicted a police officer for murder. And he can tell you that it's hard. I say this not because we doubt our resources or our ability. In fact, we're confident in what we're doing. But history does show that there are clear challenges here, and we are going to be working very hard and relying on each other and our investigative partners and the community

to support that endeavor. Just to emphasize, that's the top law enforcement officer in Minnesota saying how difficult it's going to be to get justice. That's right. So this new second degree felony murder charge for Chauvin carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, and the prior third degree charge carries a max of 25 years. Ellison explained during this press conference that to convict Chauvin, the prosecution has to show that he intended to commit a felony, in this case an assault, and that that felony then resulted in murder. For the other three officers, the charges for aiding and abetting a murder and a manslaughter carry a maximum of 40 years and 10 years, respectively. So that's the legal case against these officers. But like we've

discussed, the problems in Minneapolis and across the country are much, much deeper. And what we've seen over the past week reflects that. Specifically in Minneapolis, the investigation from the Human rights commissioner that we brought up on yesterday's show is looking at a total of 10 years of policing in the city and is seeking short-term and long-term changes. And those include a lot of things that activists have spoken about, an overhaul of the state police licensing board, subpoena power for civilian review boards, and, quote, integrity standards for officers so that they could be fired if they do not tell the truth. That's all according to Minnesota Public Radio. But Akilah, let's talk through some of the other more immediate changes that we've seen throughout the country following nationwide protests. For one, statues are coming down in various places around the country, including Alabama, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Yes, and I want to discuss a couple because some of them are Confederate statues, sure, but there's more recent racist relics to mention as well. So in Philadelphia, a statue of the city's former mayor and police commissioner, Frank Rizzo,

was removed yesterday by the city. Rizzo was mayor from 1972 to 1980. He was so-called tough on crime, where'd we hear that before, meaning he was responsible for violent policing, particularly against the city's black residents. He also famously told Philadelphia voters to, quote, vote white. The statue was already set to come down next year, but following the protests, the current mayor urgently had it removed, the least that could be done, you know, of all the things, and in a statement called it a, quote, deplorable monument to racism, bigotry, and police brutality. So it looks like protest works.

In Nashville, a statue of a racist former U.S. senator and newspaper owner known for attacking civil rights advocates like journalist Ida B. Wells was torn down by protesters earlier this week. Looks like protest works. And later today, Virginia's governor is expected to announce that he will be removing the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in the state's capital, one of the country's most recognized monuments to the Confederacy. Looks like protest works. Yeah. And the necessary context here is that activists have been trying to remove these monuments to racism for years, you know, for as long as they've been erected. The push got stronger in 2015 after the Charleston AME church mass shooting. You'll recall that the police took Dylann Roof to Burger King after he committed a hate crime murdering nine black Americans. But also, statues in Virginia came into focus in 2017 after white nationalists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest efforts to take them down. They killed one counter protester, Heather Heyer, while they were at it.

Right. And seeing these symbols come down is obviously important for the country to even begin to grapple with its history. But the protests have also brought about policy change proposals directly aimed at policing and police budgets. So give us a sense of where that's at. All right. So let's go back to Minneapolis. Several members of the city council there say that they're looking into what it would take to disband their police force and replace it with an entirely new approach to public safety. Now, it's not clear how much support they currently have for something like this, but it's a pretty big deal to see elected leaders calling to abolish the police. They haven't specified what that might look like, but one thing we've talked about on this show is

building up mental health first responders to take 911 calls instead of the police. And then here in Los Angeles, there's been pressure from activists and residents on the city council and Mayor Garcetti to cut funding for the police. Protests in recent days and the aggressive police response, you know, tear gas, rubber bullets, curfews, hitting protesters with batons, the helicopter that's literally above my house right now, have supercharged that effort. This comes after the mayor had proposed increasing police funding by 7 percent this coming year, while other departments face furloughs and cuts due to the pandemic. For your reference, over 50% of LA's budget goes to the police. But following protests, the city council is now saying that they will consider changing the budget in the coming weeks and potentially reverse that increase.

It's far from defunding the police, but it's a small response to public pressure brought by tireless activist groups like Black Lives Matter and Ground Game LA. We will continue to cover efforts to reform and or abolish the police, but for now, that's the latest. It's Thursday, WOD Squad. It is temp check time. So one group that's really stepped up during these protests is K-pop stans. The first thing I saw was in Dallas, where they basically wrecked an app the police were using to collect footage of protesters by flooding it with K-pop videos. And now they're messing with racists on Instagram by taking over hashtags like hashtag white lives matter with even more K-pop content. So Giddy, in honor of our K-pop allies, do you get down with K-pop?

Oh, 100 percent. I am not well versed on it. And anything that I say in the form of this podcast is going to get scary people in my mentions. I know that full well but I will say that Boy With Luv by BTS was a huge karaoke song when karaoke still existed earlier this year slash last year they rock these guys who are

doing this also rock I'm team K-pop K-pop stans are on top of it they're down with the cause and I'm happy to-pop. Yeah, K-pop stans are like on top of it. They're just, they're down with the cause. And I'm happy to have them alongside me because they are loud. I don't know if you've ever been to a K-pop concert, but it is very loud. I have not because I'm too afraid. And there are no more concerts anymore.

Sorry. Yeah, you're missing nothing now. But on the point of K-pop, what do you have a group that you get down with that you recommend? Oh, yeah. I mean, obviously BTS would be the cop out. They're great. Listen, I love Fake Love.

They're great. But Blackpink is fire. Okay. Big Bang. You know, you gotta go. You gotta go where the K-pop is. And I just think that they have, like the K-pop bands have absolutely brought back R&B

in a way that like we just haven't had in America since like the 90s. This is true. So it is like, it's just a real vibe. And even if I don't know what they're saying most of the time, I can look up the translation and I can like still, you know, just let it wash over me. It's beautiful. The vibe is definitely right. So yeah, I'm checking those guys out as soon as we get off. Yes. And thank you for being our comrades in this trying time. But guess what? We checked our temperatures and we are hoping that you're doing okay where you are and we will check back in again tomorrow. Let's wrap up with some headlines. Headlines. home. This happened just a couple hours after he publicly said he didn't support Trump's deployment of troops to quell protesters under the 1807 Insurrection Act. Pentagon leaders and several

Republican lawmakers agreed with Esper's argument that military force should not be used as law enforcement at the protests. There was speculation that Esper's stance opposing Trump didn't sit well with the White House. No decorated military officer better talk back to Lieutenant Colonel Burns. That's my weird voice about the military. I don't know. Listen, some think Esper's job might still be at risk after reversing course. For now, troops are set to remain in D.C. to continue over policing protesters. Honestly, you should take over the Ken Burns job of narrating documentaries with that voice exclusively. Yeah. Results from eight state primaries came in on Tuesday

and here are some of the big takeaways. Elle Jones became the first black woman to be elected as mayor of Ferguson, Missouri. Six years after the police shooting of Michael Brown put Ferguson in the national spotlight, Jones vowed to work on reforming the police department there.

It was generally a good night for women candidates. 17 women won state legislature seats in New Mexico and 11 women won seats in Iowa. It was a a good night for women candidates. 17 women won state legislature seats in New Mexico and 11 women won seats in Iowa. It was a particularly bad night for one male racist. Donald Trump because of the protests? Yes, yes, and no, not in this context, but yes. Congressman Steve King lost his seat in Iowa to Republican Randy Feenstra.

The Republican Party in Iowa put a lot of effort into dethroning the nine-term pro-white supremacist rep without scaring away his loyal white supremacist supporters. They still voted. Almost all the states saw turnout levels higher than what they had in 2016. With millions of absentee ballots flooding in and hours-long lines for polling stations, we do need more safe ways to vote, folks. Absolutely. Fox News hosts and some prominent conservatives held up Sweden's lax response to COVID-19 as a more sensible alternative to everyone, folks. Absolutely. Fox News hosts and some prominent conservatives held up Sweden's lax response to COVID-19 as a more sensible alternative to everyone else's. Now, a few months later, the guy who managed Sweden's response is admitting that his plan had some issues.

Epidemiologist Anders Tegnell led the country to avoid lockdown and only ban gatherings of more than 50 people. Swedes could still eat at restaurants, but they couldn't order at the bar because, as we all know, coronavirus really strikes when you're drowning in your sorrows in another glass of whiskey. The plan has ultimately led Sweden to have one of the highest per capita death rates in the world. And the country is now locked out from neighboring countries that have opened their borders to each other, which will partially negate any economic benefit they saw from keeping businesses open. Dr. Tegnell said, quote, If we encountered the same disease, knowing what we know today,

I think we would end up doing something in the middle between what Sweden did and what the rest of the world did. Not going to let that gentleman advise me on anything in the future. The NBA's Board of Governors is set to approve a plan to resume their season after it was paused in March due to the pandemic. The games will be played with no fans and the players will live and play at Disney World. So it's like they're all going to a really high stakes summer camp. 22 teams will play the top 13 from the Western Conference and the top nine from the Eastern Conference, leaving the remaining eight teams with a lot of time to hang out and get even deeper into bread baking before the 2021 season begins. The games are slated to kick off on July 31st, and if all goes well, it'll wrap up by October 12th.

The NBA will take now familiar precautions like asking players to maintain social distancing and get daily COVID-19 tests. Since they're at Disney, they should also make sure Goofy doesn't get in and ruin the games with buffoonery and chaos. Go off, Goofy, and those are the headlines. That's all for today, and if you like the show, make sure you subscribe, leave a review, send a birthday present to our senior producer Katie Long. It's her birthday today, and tell your friends to listen.

And if you're into reading and not just birthday cards for Katie like me, what a day is also a nightly newsletter. Check it out and subscribe at crooked.com slash subscribe. I'm Akilah Hughes. I'm Gideon Resnick. And don't let Goofy ruin the NBA. Or do. It's already over. He's got a sweet jumper, I've heard.

I miss silliness. What a day is a product of Crooked Media. It's recorded and mixed by Charlotte Landis. Sonia Tunn is our assistant producer. Our head writer is John Milstein, and our senior producer is Katie Long. Our theme music is by Colin Gilliard andashaka.