Do you remember about a month ago when I tried to explain what I thought the second half of 2020 will bring? I was kind of right on the division because we seem to be getting a taste of what I was trying to explain a few days earlier before the second half of 2020. The unfortunate events that are happening in the cities across the country all in the name of George Floyd are starting to unravel as we are seeing more of the truth come out. One of the things that I find interesting is that we’re seeing the number of COVID-19 deaths get replaced by the number of people getting arrested during these riots. The Mainstream News isn’t showing much about the coronavirus as it’s moved onto the next big monster, with more people who get arrested at these riots are from out-of-state and out of the area. 

 

    Thanks to a video that was recorded by a witness that showed how the murder happened and now a second video has come out (https://www.tmz.com/2020/05/30/new-video-angle-george-floyd-struggling-inside-cop-car-keep-watch-stand-guard/) showing what happened after George was led away by Minneapolis police after he was detained from across the street on Memorial Day, May 25, 2020. This seems to show what happened right before George was taken out of the car and forced to endure the weight of three men on top of him which ended by costing him his life. There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that George Floyd died in police custody in Minnesota. The hardest part is to prove it otherwise. Honestly, I would hate to be the defense lawyer on this case because its a losing game. When he was arrested, the white, 44-year-old, now former Minneapolis police officer, named Derek Chauvin, who knelt on Floyd’s neck was arrested and was initially charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the case (https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6933246/Derek-Chauvin-Complaint.pdf). He was also accused of ignoring another officer at the scene who expressed concerns about George Floyd as he lay handcuffed on the ground, pleading that he could not breathe. George Floyd had been arrested on suspicion of using a counterfeit bill at a small grocery store. By the way, Derek Chauvin is on suicide watch, meaning he his physically checked on every 15 minutes by guards (https://www.tmz.com/2020/05/30/cop-killed-george-floyd-derek-chauvin-suicide-watch-arrest/).

 

   The Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also announced yesterday afternoon that Chauvin’s murder charges have been upgraded to include second-degree unintentional murder. Although he still faces the original third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges Chauvin is scheduled for his first court appearance on Monday. The Three other now former Minneapolis police officers involved in the death made their first court appearance earlier today (https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/06/04/three-ex-mpd-officers-involved-in-george-floyds-death-to-make-first-court-appearance/). Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao appeared in a Hennepin County courtroom, where they were granted $1 million in bail, or $750,000 with conditions. They face aiding and abetting second-degree unintentional murder charges, as well as aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. During their appearance, they were also ordered not to work again in security or law enforcement, to surrender their gun, and never have any contact with the victim’s family. All three turned themselves in once their warrants were issued. 

 

    Even though the preliminary autopsy says that “Mr. Floyd had underlying health conditions including coronary artery disease and hypertensive heart disease. The combined effects of Mr. Floyd being restrained by the police, his underlying health conditions and any potential intoxicants in his system likely contributed to his death” (https://www.theblaze.com/news/george-floyd-medical-examiner-bombshell) outrage over the death of George Floyd has incited a wave of demonstrations and unrest across the country. This past Monday, we heard the independent autopsy that was requested by the family that stated his death was a “homicide caused by asphyxia due to neck and back compression that led to a lack of blood flow to the brain” (https://abcnews.go.com/US/independent-autopsy-george-floyd-findings-announced/story?id=70994827&cid=social_fb_2020&fbclid=IwAR0qXB9XJOrk_8FH9nFm1KCT_km7TjybtmC9zxCcOCM-ITH-811eVzCW57M&fbclid=IwAR3DQZ_GSTp4V82poy9a_pnLz8VCNRDS1v6MJu12qFTmnyN-_f9ZtZKtqps&fbclid=IwAR0dj6_5FYLfY2Pslp9Ln-OJd9dijnaTy_ywD7tpnhkR0bIMX2nL7EOdj6A&fbclid=IwAR1E-FcJ2U5JZtGGEmIqyFvoUz-GAmDlfAkOappxYYGpgqzT_MmKyOKnn94). The report further noted that a nasal swab sample collected from Floyd’s body came back positive for COVID-19, and that Floyd had also tested positive on April 3, nearly eight weeks before his death (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-autopsy-idUSKBN23B1HX). Wouldn’t it be something if the for former police officers all caught COVID-19 after his murder? Sounds like a scary movie where death comes from beyond the grave, so to speak. I don’t think Hillary Clinton would be able to top that.

 

    The video immediately went viral on the internet, igniting nine days of nationwide protest and civil strife. Demonstrators have also taken to the streets overseas, from Germany to New Zealand. From the streets of Minneapolis, where Mr. Floyd died to outside the White House gates and more than two dozen besieged cities like New York (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/30/nyregion/protests-nyc-george-floyd.html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20200531&instance_id=18965&nl=the-morning&regi_id=111319311&segment_id=29704&te=1&user_id=7344db95b06856147b58a6a3e464bec5), protesters re-energized the street uprisings that gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement six years ago. Rallies and looting bordered on civil meltdown, as scenes of peaceful protest and violence played out against the dystopian backdrop of a pandemic that has kept much of the nation at home for months. Curfews were imposed in some of America’s largest cities. However, some cities have removed those curfews after rioting seemed to calm down since all four men involved in George’s death have been in arrested.

 

    The Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, came out and said that 80% of those arrested in the first few days of the protests were from out of state (https://www.kimt.com/content/news/Minnesota-National-Guard-to-be-fully-mobilized-Walz-said-80-percent-of-rioters-not-from-MN-570892871.html) at a press conference. The Minnesota governor is fully mobilizing the state’s national guard, something that hasn’t been done since World War II. Speaking at the press conference after Minneapolis and St. Paul saw the fourth night of violent riots where more buildings were set ablaze, he said rioters “are not with us.” He said the people producing the violent riots are 20 percent Minnesotans and 80 percent from the outside. Major General Jensen said the National Guard will respond to whatever the cities or state needs. The protesters caught were jailed on charges ranging from burglary to destruction of property to curfew violations. Although, the mayor of St Paul, Minnesota walked back on that statement when he was questioned about it (https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2020/05/30/mayor-says-he-was-incorrect-in-saying-every-person-arrested-in-minneapolis-protests-was-from-out-of-state/#64b44c09233c). He said he was wrong when he declared that “every person” arrested in violent Minneapolis protests was from out of state.

 

    A Charlotte, North Carolina City Council member Braxton Winston arrested during George Floyd protests, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police (https://www.wbtv.com/2020/05/29/charlotte-city-council-member-braxton-winston-arrested-during-george-floyd-riots/). He was arrested and charged with failure to disperse on command, a misdemeanor. He was in the middle of the protest, seen speaking with both police and protesters. Police actually broke line and scooped him up and dragged behind the lines and arrested him. Many Charlotte residents became familiar with the City Council member during the unrest that followed the Keith Lamont Scott shooting in September 2016. At the time, crowds of people flocked to the streets to protest police injustice. He was among those crowds and later turned his attention to politics.

 

    It doesn’t end there anyone could be a casualty of these riots. For several journalists across the country, the demonstrations were taking an ominous, dangerous turn. A Fox News reporter was pummeled and chased by protesters who had gathered outside the White House early Saturday as part of nationwide unrest following the death of George Floyd (https://news.yahoo.com/fox-news-reporter-attacked-chased-195416264.html). A television reporter in Columbia, S.C., was hurt by a thrown rock Saturday (https://www.nbc29.com/2020/05/30/news-reporters-injured-demonstrations-across-us/) and a journalist in Minneapolis was shot in the thigh by a rubber bullet (https://heavy.com/news/2020/05/police-shoot-minneapolis-photographer-rubber-bullet/). A television news photographer in Pittsburgh said he was beaten by demonstrators (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/30/media/protests-journalists-arrested-assaulted/index.html), and police in Louisville, Kentucky, apologized after an officer fired what appeared to be pepper bullets at a television news crew. Even three police officers were hurt during the protests near Trump Tower in Chicago, Illinois (https://chicago.cbslocal.com/video/4571849-city-of-chicago-restricting-access-to-central-business-district-following-violent-protests/). Something else that these reporters were finding is that there are large pallets of bricks being place through out these cities (https://www.foxnews.com/us/random-piles-of-bricks-reported-at-george-floyd-protests). These bricks aren’t from a construction project and officials believe they are being left for the protesters by someone. Whenever I see things like this, the first thing I do is rule out coincidences by asking who has the power to do this? Who has the most to gain from all this? Otherwise, it’s time to follow the money trail. Some reporters try to debunk theories of any “conspiracy” at play here, but there are too many “hints” that say otherwise (https://heavy.com/news/2020/06/bricks-rocks-pallets-new-york-being-placed-in-cities-across-the-u-s-during-george-floyd-protests/).

 

    What I find as  hypocrisy in the Mainstream News is that they didn’t discuss, show, or even hint that there was another protest going on in the state of Kentucky over the death of an innocent black woman (https://www.actionnewsjax.com/news/trending/charges-dropped-against-breonna-taylors-boyfriend-police-chief-retires-fbi-joins-probe/MDUWBEGADNHSVKIWVV3G42BZLA/) until more recently. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear announced recently that he was calling in the National Guard to help “keep peace” in Louisville, Kentucky after protests over the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old emergency medical technician who was fatally shot eight times by narcotics detectives at her home in March. Taylor and Walker were asleep around 12:40 a.m. March 13, 2020 when three Louisville officers, Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankinson, went to Taylor’s apartment. In their hands was a search warrant for a drug suspect. There were two problems: The man the officers were looking for lived elsewhere, and he had been arrested hours earlier, meaning he was already in police custody. After investigating further, police admitted there were no drugs found in her and her boyfriends home. Officers fired more than 20 shots into their apartment, according to a lawsuit filed by her family. Kentucky prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against the boyfriend and FBI officials have announced a federal probe into the shooting. The new developments in the death of Breonna Taylor and the case against her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, came even as Louisville Metro Police Chief Steve Conrad announced his intent to retire from the force, effective July 1, 2020 (https://louisvilleky.gov/news/mayor-fischer-police-chief-conrad-call-fbi-and-us-attorney-review-breonna-taylor-investigation). Activists incensed by Taylor’s killing had been demanding his resignation. 

 

    Folks, make no mistake about it. These riots are the results of either one of two reasons:

1) Certain Political parties manipulating the people using Black Lives Matter to lead these “protests” (a.k.a. Riots) in the name of George Floyd,

OR

2) People are still so frustrated because of the lockdowns / COVID-19 restrictions. It became evident when the crowds stormed federal buildings in Washington DC and the media in Atlanta (CNN).

 

    People are venting out their frustrations using the death of George Floyd. Either way, that one senseless death was the trigger that set this off. The way he died was a very symbolic move. It’s a show of power, a knee to the neck, similar to what George Orwell once said: “If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – forever”  (http://www.openculture.com/2014/11/george-orwells-final-warning.html).There is more to this than just racism. To top it off, people in the larger cities aren’t going to be able to go back to work at some of these places that got looted and destroyed. If this continues to grow for another week, watch for the next trigger. There could be an official getting hurt or worse and it may cause the National Guard / military to be provoked to fire on someone. If that does, you won’t need much more to imagine what would come next. 

 

    Laugh at me if you want, but I’m telling you what you already know this if you study history. Tonight, Atlanta is on fire again. Not quite like the time with General Sherman during the Civil War, but Fire Departments in Atlanta keeps getting attacked while putting out the building and car fires. This is either a planned event or organized Chaos. Take your pick. And as I always said, this is an election year. Anything (and I do mean ANYTHING) can and will happen. For Washington DC, there are people clashing with Secret Service and tearing down the barriers put up by police and security outside of the White House (https://wtop.com/dc/2020/05/protesters-in-d-c-converge-on-white-house-scuffle-with-secret-service-over-george-floyd-killing/). If these “protesters” stormed into the White House, the Secret Service will have no choice but to defend the president by any means necessary. Now you don’t have to be a former member of the military to understand that meaning. This could also speed up that trigger I mentioned earlier. These riots prompted President Trump to make a press conference strongly urging each states governor to call up the National Guard to quell the riots and if the city / states refuse, then he will order Federal Troops to stop the violence (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-K7XJGk8lyQ).

 

    Now, here’s a strange tidbit of information about former Democratic Presidential Candidate and a potential running mate for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Amy Klobachure. “The Floyd case has put the national spotlight back on Klobuchar’s days as a prosecutor, particularly as it became clear Derek Chauvin, the officer involved in Floyd’s death, was involved in the death of another citizen while Klobuchar was prosecutor. Chauvin was one of six officers who fired on and killed Wayne Reyes in 2006 after Reyes reportedly aimed a shotgun at police after stabbing his friend and girlfriend. While the death happened during Klobuchar’s tenure at the helm of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, the case did not go to a grand jury until after she left the office and became a senator. Amy Klobuchar did not criminally charge other police involved in the more than two dozen officer-involved fatalities that occurred during her time as prosecutor. She left those decisions to a grand jury, a practice that was common at the time.” Read about it yourself at Star Tribune ( https://www.startribune.com/george-floyd-s-death-returns-spotlight-to-sen-amy-klobuchar-prosecutor-past/570851712/ ). Another thing I find funny about this case is that Amy Klobachure released a tweet telling everyone what charges against Chauvin were before a press conference was announced, but the tweet has since been deleted. No matter, she stands to have a much lower chance of approval for becoming Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden’s running mate as Vice President.

 

    Now another concern is peaking it’s heavy head over the situation: All these protests could cause catastrophic setback for controlling coronavirus / COVID-19, according to infectious disease experts (https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/protests-could-accelerate-spread-coronavirus-public-health-experts-say-n1220551). These large gatherings could cause a catastrophic setback for controlling COVID-19 in the U.S. as cities and states try to reopen. COVID-19 spreads mainly through close contact, particularly large respiratory droplets from sneezes, coughs, as well as shouting and yelling. On top of all that, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said African Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. While many protestors at the more than 100 demonstrations nationwide appear to be wearing face coverings, social distancing is not happening. Face masks are not intended to stop the spread of the coronavirus, but experts say they can help reduce the risk of spreading the illness to others.

 

    However, there might be some form of light at the end of the tunnel to push back against those who might be just causing all this trouble. United States Attorney General Bill Barr denounced what he described as “planned” violence from “far-left extremist groups” recently, in response to many U.S. cities erupting in protest evening over the killing of George Floyd (https://www.axios.com/george-floyd-protest-bill-barr-f26d41ef-e5cc-4130-b788-bfc0f05ad428.html). President Trump quickly echoed Barr’s statement on Twitter, saying that “‘Crossing State lines to incite violence is a FEDERAL CRIME! Liberal Governors and Mayors need to get tougher on protestors or the federal government will use “the unlimited power of our Military and many arrests” (https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1266796670609588225). Not sure what the punishment / charges will be, but it does seem like we might start seeing repercussions from the actions of all this lawlessness in these protests.

 

    On the bright side of things, America had something historic happen last weekend that I would hope inspires us all to reach higher and be more positive in our goals: Best friends and veteran astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley have successfully launched from United States soil using the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and joined the International Space Station. SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft docked at the space station at 10:16 a.m. ET Sunday morning after launching from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center Saturday and traveling 19 hours (https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/31/tech/crew-dragon-docks-with-space-station-scn/index.html). When asked about their 19-hour journey to the space station, one of them said they “couldn’t be happier” about the performance of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon. The astronauts were able to sleep for a few hours, share meals and use the on board toilet during their journey. “The Dragon was a slick vehicle, and we had good airflow, so we had an excellent, excellent evening,” Hurley said. The two astronauts are expected to remain on board the space station for one to three months, or for a maximum of 110 days.