Are they going to claim that Floyd was resisting arrest, as if that would entitle the cop to stand on his neck for awhile? Because surveillance footage shows that isn’t true.

Hennepin Co. Attorney Freeman:

“That video is graphic and horrific and terrible and no person should do that. But my job in the end is to prove that he violated a criminal statute, and there's other evidence that does not support a criminal charge… I will not rush to justice.” pic.twitter.com/RZ9iYsvQ1W

— NBC News (@NBCNews) May 28, 2020

Freeman put out a statement after this clip blew up on social media that he didn’t mean this the way it sounded — sort of:

He clarified he meant that it’s critical to review all the evidence because at the time of trial all information will be used.

“Evidence not favorable to our case needs to be carefully examined to understand the full picture of what actually happened,” he added.

Right, a prosecutor has to be meticulous. But what evidence isn’t favorable to the case against Derek Chauvin, the cop who knelt on Floyd’s neck?

Worth noting about Chauvin: There were 18 complaints filed against him with internal affairs at Minneapolis PD, two of which resulted in discipline in the form of a written reprimand. What he was reprimanded for is unclear right now, but there’s a familiar name at the margins of this case whose political future may depend on how she handled her own encounter with Chauvin years ago. Before she was a senator, Amy Klobuchar was a prosecutor. And when she had the opportunity to prosecute Chauvin, she passed:

Ex-Minneapolis police officer Derick Chauvin saw at least 10 conduct complaints during his 19-year tenure before he was fired Tuesday, according to a database that documents complaints against police. In particular, he was involved in the shooting death of a man who had stabbed other people before attacking police, as well as some other undisclosed complaints. Klobuchar did not prosecute Chauvin and other officers involved for the first death, which occurred in October 2006 while she was running for Senate. The case was under investigation when Klobuchar took office in the Senate in Jan. 2007, and later went to a grand jury, which declined to charge the officers. Chauvin was later placed on leave when he and other officers shot and wounded a Native American man in 2011.

As The Washington Post noted in March, Klobuchar “declined to bring charges in more than two dozen cases in which people were killed in encounters with police” as Hennepin County attorney.

We can’t say that Klobuchar was wrong not to prosecute without knowing the facts of those two cases. But I feel like we can pretty safely say her chances in the Biden veepstakes are lower today than they were a week ago.

Here’s the scene in New York tonight as public outrage grows. Exit question: Is the “evidence” to which Freeman refers the possibility that Floyd was having a medical problem before Chauvin knelt on him? Ed scoffed at that in his post a few days ago and I’m joining him in the scoffing, but Freeman may be thinking back to the claim made in the Eric Garner case in New York that Garner died due to heart problems, not the chokehold that cops placed on him. If it turns out that Floyd had a heart condition, say, good luck to the defense lawyer who has to stand up in court and argue that kneeling on his neck for nine minutes would have been fine if only he hadn’t had a bum ticker. Why, it’s almost as if Floyd himself is to blame for his demise.

https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1266133660467675137