I first met Dave Smith many years ago. He was on the Board I reported to at the American Society of Law Enforcement Trainers where I served as chair of the Firearms/Deadly Force Training Committee. His career in law enforcement (Arizona Department of Public Safety) was stellar, and his career since in police training, even more so.
He speaks for many of us in this recently published essay.
AMEN!
Management types in all organizations are not often driven by a zeal to perform the core mission and improve the skill level of those performing the mission and support them properly.
I’m avoiding the term “leadership” as a substantial number couldn’t lead a starving wolf to a meat market.
A big problem this country faces is that while we desperately need the best, brightest & most capable of our young people to serve in the armed forces & law enforcement, those same young people are hesitant to do so because of the corrupt & feckless nature of leadership. The numerous videos of horrible police officers & silly obese military personnel bear this out. It reminds me of my days in the 1980s post-Vietnam Army. Many of the holdover NCOs were terrible and many of the junior enlisted coming back from Germany were junkies. The Army eventually got itself squared away as proven in Desert Storm. If the American people do not awaken & stop electing leftist politicians this situation will only get worse.
“ I appeal to each and every one of you to resist this temptation at all costs. Refund the police, restore our American Pride, our history, our standards, our traditions, and our rights.”
Profound Statement! The future of our Republic depends on ALL eligible voters to do so. Refusing to do so because one believes the “system is rigged” is exactly what extremist activists want us to believe so only their votes count.
I remember listening to him train me many many times. I’m sure he was a piece of the puzzle that allowed me to work 28 years and never get injured.
Great article, thanks for posting it. The forces behind all of the attack fronts that the author describes are seeking, with thought and direct intent, the destruction of this nation as founded. To them, it is a religious war (and leftism is a religion) with all of the zeal and efforts they can mobilize. Our side must understand that, and fight it on the same footing, established with the same characteristics of a religion for what we believe in, a mindset. Anything short of that gives the edge and advantage to the other side…similar to the nature of any self defense confrontation.
The Fall of Minneapolis should be viewed by everyone who follows you Mas, and shared as much as possible. Expungement and restitution are in order for these officers and perjury charges for the Chief and his staff as well as a civil suit by business owners and citizens against the Mayor who failed in his sworn duty to protect those he serves. Ellison and the Governor are not to be let off either, also Waters and Pelosi for their stunts.
I really appreciate getting the truth about controversial cases from this blog. I know the truth about Zimmerman, Rittenhouse and Chauvin. I know George Floyd died from fentanyl, not Derek Chauvin’s knee.
But I don’t want to return to normal times. I think our legal system and our police officers are too kind to violent criminals. I think America is a great place to be a crook.
Our government can’t do anything right, except deliver the mail. Parents can educate their children better than schools can. And, citizens can enforce the laws better than government can, especially this government.
Don’t mean to pop your bubble, but the government can’t even deliver the mail right any mkore, and they do so at bout fifteen times the price which they charged when I was a kid first writing letters and such.
I recently had an really awkward encounter with a small-town Postmaster who seemed recently arrived from another country. He was not friendly or open to explaining what seem arbitrary decisions about who should be eligible for a business post office box. I know that large-scale credit-card theft by postal employees has been reported, but that should not interfere with someone from out of town from paying for an in-town business box.
We cannot let the Minnesota-Floyd mind-set deter us from effective self-protection. The recent video on Active Self Protection on a double fatality encounter in Las Cruces, NM is probably the best example that I have ever seen of how not to handle an assault from a knife-wielding, fentanyl-impaired maniac. A couple of things that I would add to the advice of not to back up straight, rather to step laterally, etc., would be to prepare “pre-loaded” with your firearm in hand, maybe concealed from the front behind your back, and good luck with that, before you ever move forward, and to think “multiple double-tap.” You generally need to hit an approaching knife wielder’s CNS solidly and drop him ASAP. One alternative is shots to a hip, especially with heavy bullets from a .45 ACP or so, which seem the kinds of bullets most likely to literally turn the assailant to his/her/its disadvantage.
I remember when the first whispers of the /”curious incident” involving George Floyd broke. As I read what first was released, something smelled really badly.Stunk, in short. A couple days laer the Medical Examiner’s Report from Hennnepin County was released. Some items mentioned in the news release I read did not add up. So I went to the Hennepin County Coroner’s Office website and downloaded the entire autopsy report. As I read through that report more things did not add up when compared to the news repors and sories. Something major was missing. Two or three days later the ;ab results came back from the blood work thaey had ordered. I downloaded that tox panel report and read that. OH HERE is the bottom line.. fentanyl 4x lethal for a male of his body weight, and 2 x lethal of meth. By that time word had leaked out that “saint” George had repeated a rick he had used previously when facing impending arrest and “holding” drugs. He swallowed them. It was a rough ride, but he survived that time. I suppose it would be thanks to poor quality control and fluctuating concentrations of the fent and fillers. NO question he had offed himself…. over a crooked twenty dollar bill. I guess his life was worth about the same as that skanky bill.
The truly shocking thing about all this was the way the press and the hooligans all went off on the arresting officer, Derek Chauvin. The nation erupted in what can only be seen clearly as an arranged and well planned fit of chaos and destruction that was well coordinated across the nation. I am wholly convinced that today’s faux rage over the fact that Israel are taking the rational and necessary steps to deal with her recent attackers and secure their own nation against future attacks is flowing out of the same source as the “unrest” over Floyd’s death. The difference is now they are a well oiled machine able to be detonated on short notice.
I agree with most of what he says. However, the film he references, “The Fall of Minneapolis” might not be all he believes it to be. Why do I say this?
There is a pair of university professor / political commentators for whom I have great respect and trust for their sense of fairness and honesty — Glen Loury and John McWhorter (Glen, a moderate conservative, and John, a moderate liberal). When they saw that film, they gave an honest reaction to it — outrage at having been previously lied to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9dLBLCR4a0
But then, they had further discussions with the other side, and caused them to question some of the claims of the film. They discuss that here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCnK1UU3mks
It can be a subtle issue. For example, it seems to be that there was some training material suggesting keeping a knee on the arrestee’s shoulder (which can appear to be his neck) while initially gaining control, but not to stay in that position for many minutes. So, despite the film, there is reason to suspect Chauvin did not follow his training correctly (though his deviation from it was exaggerated).
I suspect there was additional deception by the prosecution. Their medical expert witnesses correctly pointed out that what would have been a lethal drug dose for most people might not have been a lethal dose for someone who took those drugs habitually. Nevertheless, I never heard an medical reason that three times the normal lethal does wouldn’t likely have been a lethal dose, even for a habitual user.
And I pretty much agree with Dave Smith about the malicious harm done by the BLM movement — and the university-based radical left in general (on a variety of topics).
Regardless, I think Glen Loury, John McWhorter (and Coleman Hughes, who they mention) are also worth listening to.
The Chauvin trial was kangaroos all the way down. You had a malicious prosecution for political reasons. You had police “leadership” who threw one of their own under the bus. You had absurd testimony by expert witnesses. (Mas, you may want to comment on this.) You had a judge who refused to grant a change of venue when the fear in the jury pool was obvious and overt threats were being made of renewed rioting You had at least one juror who lied on voir dire. You had a defense attorney who did a great job on cross-examination of prosecution witnesses and then appeared to die in his chair when it came time to present the defense case. I have never seen an explanation for this. And finally, you had appellate courts who totally ignored all of this. It was simply a judicial lynching.
I agree. There is no doubt, in my mind, that Officer Chauvin’s 6th and 14th Amendment Rights were violated in the zeal to make him into a scapegoat to serve the political needs of the American left.
I won’t pre-judge and say whether Chauvin was totally innocent or not. However, I will say that, in my opinion, he did not receive a fair trial. The entire trial seemed to be “rigged” so as to produce a result that fit the political narratives of the Left and their propagandists in the media.
In many ways, it reminds me of a 21st Century version of the “Dreyfus Affair”. In that case, a predetermined result was required due to a form of racism (antisemitism). In the Chauvin case, a predetermined result was required due (again) to racism. In this case, reverse-racism (Anti-White). Also, the political desire to undermine the police was at play.
See this link for more about the “Dreyfus Affair”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair
Captain Alfred Dreyfus did, eventually, see some justice in his case but it took years for him to receive vindication. Will Officer Chauvin ever receive Justice? If so, how many years will it take? Will he be exonerated only after he is dead and buried?
Quote of the Day:
“The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones.”
William Shakespeare – Julius Caesar (Act 3 – Scene 2)
Dreyfus was eventually freed but as near as I can tell none of the people that framed him ever suffered any consequences. That is a necessary condition for justice.
@ Richard – “That is a necessary condition for justice.”
I agree again. That is why I qualified my statement by saying that Captain Dreyfus did “see some justice”. Complete justice would have seen the people who framed him being sent to “Devil’s Island” for a period of time matching the years lost by Dreyfus himself (An eye for an eye….).
Likely, the best that Officer Chauvin can hope for will be partial justice. He deserved to at least have a fair trial.
“However, I will say that, in my opinion, he did not receive a fair trial. The entire trial seemed to be “rigged” so as to produce a result that fit the political narratives of the Left and their propagandists in the media.”
The trial itself was, in fact, immaterial to the verdict. We have jurors openly admitting they were afraid for the safety of themselves and their families if they were to return a not guilty verdict. The prosecution could have been built entirely on the physical properties of a stale Twinkie and it would not have made a difference in the end.
The only argument that could have been made is that once a suspect is in custody, their safety and health are the responsibility of the arresting officer(s), and there is evidence that Chauvin MAY have acted improperly and contrary to training when dealing with a combative suspect having a serious medical event in front of a crowd of hostile onlookers. I’ll let you decide how that relates to a murder charge.
@ Sian – “I’ll let you decide how that relates to a murder charge.”
Based upon the medical evidence that I have seen, I believe that George Floyd died from a drug overdose and that his preexisting health condition was (also) an additional factor.
Given this, I do not see how a murder charge could have ever (justifiably) been applied much less result in a conviction. It is possible that some lesser charges might apply. Like I said, I won’t prejudge that.
Clearly, Officer Chauvin was overcharged. Plus, this medical evidence was suppressed or obscured during his show trial. All of which supports my earlier comment about this trial being rigged.
While you may be correct in your view that the jury was too afraid to return any verdict other than “GUILTY”, the set up of a false narrative, the one-sided presentation of evidence, the “going through the motions” work of this show trial were important. These “Show” elements all provide a “Fig Leaf” that lets (a) the jury pass an unjust verdict while still “saving face”, (b) allows the justice system to pretend that Officer Chauvin’s Rights were not violated and that supports not granting relief during appeals, and (c) allows the American Left and their Media Propagandists to proclaim that “Justice was Done” for Saint George Floyd.
All of the above was most necessary (politically) to sustain the left-wing narrative. None of it, IMHO, serves the cause of justice.
I expect that in the future, when we have passed by this current period of mass insanity, people will look back upon the “Chauvin Show Trial” in much the same way that they look back upon the “Dreyfus Affair” today.
The Dreyfus Affair is viewed, today, as a stain upon the honor of France. The “Chauvin Show Trial” will (I hope and expect) eventually be viewed as a stain upon the honor of the United States of America.
I expect that it will form its own chapter in the future “The Decline and Fall of the United States of America” when it is written in the next century by some future historian.