Did Floyd Die Because He Was Black?

[Nakosis]

Or did he die because of bad choices he made?

There were, IMO, at least 3 bad choices made by George Floyd that day, any one of which if he had made better choices, he'd be alive today.

First bad choice - he chose to be intoxicated. Which impaired his thinking.

Second - He chose to pass fake bills, also chose to not return the cigarette when confronted by the store employees.

Third - He chose to resist the police when they tried to place him in the vehicle.


He was Black. Something he really had no choice over. Nothing he could have done different about that.
Dick-head cop was a racist. Ok, but Floyd had no choice over which cops were going to show up.
Floyd said he was claustrophobic, perhaps but I doubt the police would accept that as an excuse to not arrest him. If he had complied and gotten in the cruiser when ask, he would have been long gone before dick-head cop showed up on the scene.

Not saying the cop is not accountable but we have no control over what other people do. What we do have control over is our own action, our own choices. We have to make wise choices and cannot depend on others to make the wise choices for our own safety.

 

[Lyndon]

a lot of racist Trump supporters would like to blame the victim for getting murdered!!

 

[A Vestigial Mote]

Or did he die because of bad choices he made?

There were, IMO, at least 3 bad choices made by George Floyd that day, any one of which if he had made better choices, he'd be alive today.

First bad choice - he chose to be intoxicated. Which impaired his thinking.

Second - He chose to pass fake bills, also chose to not return the cigarette when confronted by the store employees.

Third - He chose to resist the police when they tried to place him in the vehicle.


He was Black. Something he really had no choice over. Nothing he could have done different about that.
Dick-head cop was a racist. Ok, but Floyd had no choice over which cops were going to show up.
Floyd said he was claustrophobic, perhaps but I doubt the police would accept that as an excuse to not arrest him. If he had complied and gotten in the cruiser when ask, he would have been long gone before dick-head cop showed up on the scene.

Not saying the cop is not accountable but we have no control over what other people do. What we do have control over is our own action, our own choices. We have to make wise choices and cannot depend on others to make the wise choices for our own safety.

An unarmed perpetrator who is not actively trying to kill the officers involved should never die when being apprehended/processed. If they do, there should immediately be measures in place to launch an investigation. "Resisting" - unless it includes some form of violence that could be considered deadly - isn't enough reason to use extreme measures of force or detention that could even potentially result in the death of the criminal subject. It's case enough to use adequate force to subdue and get the person in the police vehicle, sure, but that's it. The officers involved did not have respect enough for their fellow man to lend any sense of common decency to their interactions with George Floyd. And such flagrant disregard for human life should be punished.

 

[Nakosis]

An unarmed perpetrator who is not actively trying to kill the officers involved should never die when being apprehended/processed. If they do, there should immediately be measures in place to launch an investigation. "Resisting" - unless it includes some form of violence that could be considered deadly - isn't enough reason to use extreme measures of force or detention that could even potentially result in the death of the criminal subject. It's case enough to use adequate force to subdue and get the person in the police vehicle, sure, but that's it. The officers involved did not have respect enough for their fellow man to lend any sense of common decency to their interactions with George Floyd. And such flagrant disregard for human life should be punished.

Ok, however the question, that I'm putting forth, is whether Floyd could have prevented his own death if he had made better choices.

Personally, I'd rather not leave my survival in the hands of others.

 

[Nakosis]

a lot of racist Trump supporters would like to blame the victim for getting murdered!!

I'd like to learn from this event to prevent other deaths.

 

[Lyndon]

Well you're white, aren't you, you don't have so much to worry about

 

[Revoltingest]

Well you're white, aren't you, you don't have so much to worry about

Perhaps you have less experience with cops than some of us.
The danger they pose to white folk too is significant.
You should discuss this with the OP in particular.
And check out....
Some Wrongful Cop Behavior That Doesn't Spark Riots

It pays great dividends to avoid cops, especially when they're
excited, & to take Chris Rock's advice on dealing with them.

 

[Nakosis]

Well you're white, aren't you, you don't have so much to worry about

I don't have much to worry about because, I wouldn't be trying to pass counterfeit notes. I wouldn't be drunk in public and I would be polite and cooperate fully with the police.

 

[Lyndon]

And if you were black that still wouldn't be enough, he was killed because he was black, not because he was intoxicated

 

[bobhikes]

Or did he die because of bad choices he made?

There were, IMO, at least 3 bad choices made by George Floyd that day, any one of which if he had made better choices, he'd be alive today.

First bad choice - he chose to be intoxicated. Which impaired his thinking.

Second - He chose to pass fake bills, also chose to not return the cigarette when confronted by the store employees.

Third - He chose to resist the police when they tried to place him in the vehicle.

How many chose to be intoxicated every day and aren't arrested

How many people pass fake bills (I've unknowingly passed several in my life, never had the cops called on me)

There was no reason to put him in the vehicle but even then he was clearly not resisting on the ground while pleading for his life.

He died because the Cop killed him.

 

[Revoltingest]

And if you were black that still wouldn't be enough, he was killed because he was black, not because he was intoxicated

Were there no contributing factors within his control?

 

[Revoltingest]

How many chose to be intoxicated every day and aren't arrested

How many people pass fake bills (I've unknowingly passed several in my life, never had the cops called on me)

There was no reason to put him in the vehicle but even then he was clearly not resisting on the ground while pleading for his life.

He died because the Cop killed him.

The point of the OP is that there are risk factors which one can control.
Are you saying that they aren't risk factors?

 

[bobhikes]

The point of the OP is that there are risk factors which one can control.
Are you saying that they aren't risk factors?

I am saying they are not facts that would lead people to being killed. If he was white, a women or someone one of the cops respected he wouldn't be dead.

 

[Thief]

there was brief notation of a heart condition

drunk and smoking cigarettes ….and then stressed

his heart gave out

but yeah …...the lack of discretion is evident​

 

[Rational Agnostic]

An unarmed perpetrator who is not actively trying to kill the officers involved should never die when being apprehended/processed. If they do, there should immediately be measures in place to launch an investigation. "Resisting" - unless it includes some form of violence that could be considered deadly - isn't enough reason to use extreme measures of force or detention that could even potentially result in the death of the criminal subject. It's case enough to use adequate force to subdue and get the person in the police vehicle, sure, but that's it. The officers involved did not have respect enough for their fellow man to lend any sense of common decency to their interactions with George Floyd. And such flagrant disregard for human life should be punished.

I think both you and @Nakosis are correct. Of course the officer is a horrible person, what he did was absolutely horrendous and he should be prosecuted for murder (frankly I wish the officer could be executed). However, I think Floyd could have prevented his own death. I don't see what's wrong with pointing that out. I've never been arrested before but if I ever get arrested, you can be damn sure I'm not going to try to resist the officers, because I don't want to risk my own life. It's not victim blaming to point this out. The same thing can be said about victims of any other crime. There are things people can do to reduce their chances of becoming a victim of almost any crime. I don't understand what's wrong with pointing that out.

 

[Thief]

I am saying they are not facts that would lead people to being killed. If he was white, a women or someone one of the cops respected he wouldn't be dead.

more whites die each year than any other group
at the hands of the police

 

[Revoltingest]

I am saying they are not facts that would lead people to being killed.

But they increase the probability of bad results when dealing with cops.

If he was white, a women or someone one of the cops respected he wouldn't be dead.

Wrongo pongo.
Cops kill more white than black folk.
The latter are merely a higher percentage.
Check the OP's videos....
Some Wrongful Cop Behavior That Doesn't Spark Riots

I'm concerned that so many people believe that it makes no
difference how one conducts oneself around cops. And that
black folk are in continuous imminent danger, & that white folk
are safe. All are in some danger.

This PSA is useful.
Caution: Some profanity & simulated violence.

 

[Rational Agnostic]

How many chose to be intoxicated every day and aren't arrested

.

Probably a lot. But choosing to be intoxicated every day is certainly an unwise choice if one wishes to minimize his/her chances of getting in harm's way.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

Yes, there were risk factors, and some of them were within Floyd's control. That being said, it must still appear, at least by the numbers, that the biggest risk factor is the one that he could not control -- the colour of his skin.

Since 2017, 1,268 white people, 698 black people and 498 Hispanic people have been killed by police in the US. The numbers tell us this: black men are more than twice as likely to be shot and killed by police than whites on a per capita basis. Native Americans and Hispanics are also substantially more likely. Women, hardly at all.

Now, some other interesting comparisons by country (these number are per 100 people 2016-17 data):

United States --- Estimated guns per 100 people 120.5 Fatal shootings by police 996
Canada --- Guns 34.7 fatal shootings 36
Finland --- Guns 32.4 fatal shootings 3
Iceland --- Guns 31.7 fatal shootings 0
Switzerland --- Guns 27.6 fatal shootings 0
Sweden --- Guns 23.1 fatal shootings 6
France --- Guns 19.6 fatal shootings 26

Source of above

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Or did he die because of bad choices he made?

There were, IMO, at least 3 bad choices made by George Floyd that day, any one of which if he had made better choices, he'd be alive today.

First bad choice - he chose to be intoxicated. Which impaired his thinking.

Second - He chose to pass fake bills, also chose to not return the cigarette when confronted by the store employees.

Third - He chose to resist the police when they tried to place him in the vehicle.


He was Black. Something he really had no choice over. Nothing he could have done different about that.
Dick-head cop was a racist. Ok, but Floyd had no choice over which cops were going to show up.
Floyd said he was claustrophobic, perhaps but I doubt the police would accept that as an excuse to not arrest him. If he had complied and gotten in the cruiser when ask, he would have been long gone before dick-head cop showed up on the scene.

Not saying the cop is not accountable but we have no control over what other people do. What we do have control over is our own action, our own choices. We have to make wise choices and cannot depend on others to make the wise choices for our own safety.

No excuse! Your three reasons of victim blame do not matter. What happened is inexcusable, the cops are not the judge, jury, and executioner, and Floyd died because we have crap standards for police, crap training for police, and a sadistic mentality of being hard on crime, prinoting law and order, and worshiping those who kill us all (white, black, yellow, red, brown, or blue, we are equally cattle for the slaughter before their eyes) with impunity.