Darnella Frazier, 17 at the time.
And I wonder how long before laws are proposed making it a crime to videotape police “interactions.”
That’s the scary thing. She was a brave kid, and I’m sure if Chauvin wasn’t otherwise…occupied…he would have grabbed her camera phone away too. People believe because they’ve seen it for the last year on the news. How about all the ones who weren’t so “fortunate” to have it recorded?
I can’t quote it verbatim, but the original MPD report (almost certainly based on the officers’ raw input) said that they noticed Floyd was experiencing distress during the “interaction;” they summoned aid, and he died en route or at the hospital.
It wasn’t until nearly midnight that someone phoned the chief and called his attention to the video. Chauvin was fired the next day, and the rest is history.
In a big crowd, police can’t confiscate ALL the phones. And anyway, someone will film them confiscating the phones, so there’s that.
[slightly off topic]
Musing… we watched the Jan 6 riot live as it happened, and still, many Repubs are saying we didn’t see what we saw…
[/off topic]
There’s that, but also, depending on how your phone is set up – your video gets uploaded to the cloud, anyway, so even if the cops have your physical phone, you have access to it. Plus there’s the ability to livestream, if you’re quick enough to think of it.
Not uncommon at all to charge and prosecute someone for every chargeable crime. If an appeals court decides murder 2 was excessive and it should have been murder 3, you’re out of luck if you didn’t charge murder 3.
I will admit confusion here about why manslaughter 2 would not always automatically result in murder 2. Manslaughter 2 is a felony wherein you accidentally kill someone via negligence. Murder 2 is accidentally killing someone while committing another felony. So ISTM that murder 2 should always be chargeable when MS 2 is charged, but IANAL
No laws needed. If a cop doesn’t want to be filmed, they accuse you of interfering and arrest you, and “oops you dropped your phone under my boot heel while you were resisting arrest, right after my body cam mysteriously lost power.”
i thought of the same thing.
That’s what the Cloud is for.
They have already tried to arrest people for that. “Interfering with a police investigation” or something.
The courts are not amused.
Good point. Denial is everywhere.