Leave it to Charlie Pierce to eloquently contextualize the trial of Derek Chauvin, the police officer who saw an expendable human being in George Floyd, and for reasons known only to himself, decided to allow some demon of his own to snuff out the man’s life without cause, committing murder under color of law — because he could.

Trials of the century come and go fairly quickly. The Scopes monkey trial was the trial of that century for approximately three years until the kidnapping of the Lindburgh baby eclipsed it. Religion and science were on trial in Tennessee in 1925 during the Scopes trial and the cultural schism we saw then was a pre echo of what we see now, in the conspiracy theory driven, anti-science culture in which we find ourselves in the third decade of the 21st century. The Scopes trial spoke eloquently to the American condition of that era and so does the Chauvin trial speak to the same thing today. It remains to be seen what changes in law enforcement or society might result from this trial, if any, but it’s undeniable that the trial provides a snapshot of who and what we are in the year 2021.

Stroll down memory lane and see 1925’s cultural snapshot and contrast it with now. The more things change the more they are the same. Esquire:

Big trials have been a staple of American media for as long as there has been an American media. They really were the first form of celebrity journalism. As communications technology improved and accelerated, so did the hunger for the big trial. The 20th century had several Trials of the Century, even if you don’t count the various political investigations and congressional hearings. The Scopes Trial was the Trial of the Century for three whole years, until Bruno Hauptmann was put on trial for kidnapping the infant son of Charles Lindbergh. Cameras became a presence in our courtrooms. Court TV was born. After that, of course, we sailed along until the OJ Simpson trial obsessed the country as a virtual miniseries. And that was before the Internet and social media.

This week, the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin opened in that city. Chauvin is accused of murdering George Floyd by kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nine minutes while attempting to “subdue” him. The trial was picked up by CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN, among other outlets. Like most big trials, the Chauvin trial already has begun to develop its own stars: Donald Williams, the MMA fighter and eyewitness who could give classes in how to testify for the prosecution; Courteney Ross, George Floyd’s companion, who spoke honestly and openly about their shared addiction to opioids, immunizing the victim against the character attacks that are sure to come from the defense.

“We got addicted and tried really hard to break that addiction many times,” Ross testified. “When you know someone who suffers from any type of addiction, you can start to kind of see changes when they’re using again.”

There is no pre-existing celebrity involved in this trial, the way there was in the Simpson and Lindbergh trials. Nor is there a marketing campaign behind a test case, as there was in the Scopes trial. While unquestionably driven by serious public issues—systemic racism in police practices—and while there already is an element of dread in the air regarding the consequences of an acquittal, the Chauvin trial is mainly a view into the dark realities of the American condition. Our society had declared George Floyd expendable. That’s what Derek Chauvin saw when he pulled his cruiser up to the front of Cup Foods: an expendable human being on whose neck he could kneel for nine minutes. That’s the human reality on trial in Minneapolis. It’s not the Trial of the Century. It’s so much more important than that.

The darkness of human nature and how those in a position of trust can and will pervert that position to do evil. That’s what’s on trial in Minneapolis. It’s a story as old as the hills.

Here are a few pertinent tweets, video clips you might have missed.

The trial resumes Monday, 9:15 a.m. local time. Read Charlie Pierce’s piece in full, it’s well worth the time.

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7 COMMENTS

    • The scene in that street that day must have been unbelievable. These people are all cracking up emotionally on the stand. This is not typical, to put it mildly.

  2. I agree with one person’s testimony, that when she looked in Chauvin’s eyes, they were cold and uncaring. That is what I see in the photos.

  3. It was such a fight and his life was in so much jeopardy that he kept his hands in his pockets as the life drained out of George Floyd.

  4. I realize the defense attorney has a job to do, and that he is required to mount a vigorous defense but the questioning about whether Hansen should have attempted to assist bothers the hell out of me. If he’d focused on her “Not doing enough” (she did identify herself as an off duty EMT – maybe she had some credential/ID card she could have shown might have been a point to try and make) it would have been one thing. I should also note that one of the cops (Tao) restraining Floyd told her if she was what she said (and EMT) then she should know better than to get involved. But that goes to the heart of what disgusts me so.

    Hansen was off-duty, but as an EMT and seeing a situation where someone might be (and as we know WAS) in medical distress did the proper and dutiful thing and offered her expertise. She was pointedly rejected by the cops in the moment which is a point I hope the prosecution will emphasize in closing arguments. As in even though they had someone with special training and experience on hand they specifically rejected her out of hand – because they didn’t care if Floyd suffered major injury or died! However to all this time later try a line of questioning that can best be described as “Well, you had to assume help was coming so why the hell would you bother trying to help?” is enraging. If the cops who murdered Floyd didn’t realize at the time their actions would be shown on national TV, this asshole defense attorney surely knew multiple networks (although NOT the folks at Fox – maybe that’s all HE watches and assumes everyone else only watches Faux Nooz) would be broadcasting his efforts live. And that they’d be replayed over and over on the news and on social media. But he pretty much (at least in my mind) put a central and hard truth front and center – the “don’t get involved to help someone who needs help” attitude that’s existed long before George Floyd had the life crushed out of him. Also, to be perfectly frank there’s almost certainly an element of race involved in the defense attorney’s questions on the matter – as in why would some white woman, even though she was an experienced EMT bother to try and check on the medical condition of some black guy she thought might need medical intervention?

    Like I said, from the minutes in which George Floyd was murdered and now through the trial of one of the cops who murdered him someone with the kind of medical training and experience who might well have saved his life was told – “stay out of it – it’s none of your business.” And even worse, being told “because you have special training and are part of the response system in Minneapolis you should know better than to try and help.” WTF? Intent was expressed as Floyd was being murdered, and it was expressed again by a lawyer for one of his murderers. And the fucking judge had the gall to take Hansen to task for standing up for Floyd and herself, for not letting that asshole defense lawyer twist her words and actions! Of course, he tried to minimize the charges Floyd is facing, so it will be interesting to see what his jury instructions look like which I’m guessing will be a legalistic “Look. So they killed the guy. Maybe they meant to and maybe they just got carried away but he was some nobody black guy so find it in your hearts to let him off with a sentence of notariety and having lost his job.”

    Yes, it will say a great deal about us if Chauvin isn’t convicted. And it won’t be good.

    • Thank you Denis, for saying what I was thinking and feeling. I’m sure I’m not the only one that thoroughly agrees with you. I also think that the defense made a point of the drugs in Floyd’s system, as well as his heart condition. But I am thinking that you could kneel on a healthy person’s neck for 9 minutes and kill them just the same.

  5. Peirce is right. The actions of these police and the trial are of historic proportions. Denis Elliott’s comments are also right on the mark. This is all so tragic. It was so unnecessary.

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