MARTIAL LAW? Trump threatens to deploy military, doesn't mention new George Floyd autopsy confirming homicide
U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the nation on Monday, June 1, in the wake of the mass protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, an African American man, at the hands of a white now-fired policeman called Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In the wake of the death, Black Lives Matter protests have sprung up across America. In several instances, these protests have turned violent, with instances of vandalism, looting, and arson. Several police cars have been set on fire and a police precinct in Minneapolis was burned down.
In his address, Trump announced severe measures against violent protests. While he said that “for George and his family, justice will be served,” and that “he will not have died in vain,” Trump’s address was largely about how he plans to curb the violence. He decried “angry mobs”, “Antifa”, “anarchists”, and more, calling the violent protests, “acts of domestic terror”.
“I am taking immediate presidential action to stop the violence and restore security and safety in America. I am mobilizing all available federal resources, civilian and military, to stop the rioting and looting, to end the destruction and arson, and to protect the lives of law-abiding Americans, including your second amendment rights,” said Trump.
He said that he has directed state governors to deploy the National Guard “in sufficient numbers that would dominate the streets”. He added that if a city or state refused to take the necessary actions, “then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them”. He further said that in Washington DC, he was deploying “thousands and thousands of heavily-armed soldiers, military personnel and law enforcement officers” to stop the rioting.
A big reason behind these protests is police violence in the U.S. and often, African-Americans have been at the receiving end of it. In addition, law enforcement officials have at times managed to escape incidents of violence with little repercussion.
In Floyd’s case, Chauvin was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner reportedly announced on Friday that it has made “no physical findings that support a diagnosis of traumatic asphyxia or strangulation.”
The medical examiner suggested underlying health conditions contributed to Floyd’s death. But the autopsy noted that Chauvin kept his knee on Floyd's neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds, and nearly three minutes after Floyd became unresponsive.
This medical report has been largely contested, and an independent autopsy now has found evidence to the contrary. The autopsy commissioned by Floyd's family says compression to the neck and back, caused by officers kneeling on him, led to a lack of blood flow to the brain.
"The cause of death, in my opinion, is asphyxia, due to compression to the neck -- which can interfere with oxygen going to the brain -- and compression to the back, which interferes with breathing," said Dr. Michael Baden, the former New York City medical examiner who conducted the independent examination, at a news conference.
Despite Trump’s promise of justice being served for Floyd’s family, the U.S. President made no mention of this new evidence in his address. In fact, he made no mention of Floyd and his family barring the introduction to his speech.