Who would have thought that George Floyd‘s murderer, former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, would have a history of using excessive force against citizens, including the dangerous placement of his knee in a person’s upper back?
Oh, everybody? Everyone who isn’t a “back the blue” bootlicker who is indifferent to police racism saw it coming a mile away that it would turn out Floyd wasn’t Chauvin’s first police brutality rodeo?
Source: Minnesota Department of CorrectionsWell, maybe some would find it more surprising that when it comes to Chauvin’s apparent penchant for police violence, no one is safe — not even white women.
Last May, we reported the story of Patty Day, a former employee of the Public Works Department, who claimed in a lawsuit that, in January 2020, Chauvin dragged her out of her minivan and pinned her to the ground with his knee, just as he did when he murdered Floyd just a few months later. Well, now, the city of Minneapolis owes $600,000 to Day and her legal team. Day, who has admitted she was drunk on the night of Jan. 17, 2020, filed the suit last May, claiming to be a victim of excessive force and wrongful arrest.
From NBC News:
Chauvin and his partner that night, Officer Ellen Jensen, eventually arrived on the scene. The lawsuit alleged that the officers “violently yanked” Day from her vehicle and threw her to the pavement, causing several injuries.
“Chauvin then assumed his signature pose, pressing his knee into the subdued and handcuffed Patty’s back — just as he would later do to snuff the life out of George Floyd — and remaining that way well after Patty was controlled,” the complaint alleged. A drunken driving charge was later dropped after a judge ruled that the officers lacked probable cause to arrest her and suppressed the blood alcohol test evidence.
The Minneapolis City Council unanimously approved the $600,000 settlement Thursday. Council member LaTrisha Vetaw told her colleagues that $175,000 will go to Day while her attorneys will get $425,000.
The city has now paid over $36 million to settle police misconduct cases involving Chauvin, including $27 million to the Floyd family.
Perhaps police departments around the country will soon come to realize how expensive it can be to keep cops on the payroll who will end up costing them millions because they just can’t stop using unnecessary violence against citizens (especially Black citizens, but not just us) while asserting their authority.
Chauvin was a poor investment for the city of Minneapolis and a danger to its citizens. Fortunately for Day, she didn’t share Floyd’s fate.
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