George Floyd, the accidental martyr

This may come across as mean, but I really have had enough of the beatification of George Floyd and the endless sympathy for his family. What did they do to deserve an audience with the President of the United States? It’s a little much.

So there is no misunderstanding: former cop Derek Chauvin, probably inadvertently, killed Floyd and deserved punishment. The 22 ½ years he got was fair, neither the top nor bottom of the sentencing guidelines.

The general population, the media, the sentencing judge, all have been wailing and tearing their clothes like mourners at a funeral.

Conveniently drowned in the tidal wave of grief is that Floyd was a drug addict, an ex-con with half a dozen felonies on his rap sheet, including threatening a pregnant woman with a gun. 

For his part, Chauvin had used the same knee-on-neck hold with a previous suspect who survived with no harm. Chauvin probably expected the same result with Floyd, but had the bad luck of dealing with someone probably under the influence of drugs.

Which does not excuse the death.

Floyd was resisting arrest, although not forcefully, and the cops rightfully got him under control. The 9-minute knee hold was wrongful.

It is true the Floyd family is without George, but they are instant millionaires, receiving an astounding $27 million in compensation.  George has done something for them in death he never could have done for them in life, and also lent his name to a movement he might not even have been aware of in life.

He became a global hero.

For what? 

For dying.

What were his intentions, his principles?

He was trying to pass a counterfeit $20 bill. He was not marching for civil rights, he was doing something for himself. 

Why should he be lionized while names like the Rev. George Lee, Medgar Evers, James Earl Chaney, Wharlest Jackson and others are lost to history?

Floyd was a repeat offender with a rap sheet going back more than two decades. He was an accidental martyr.

Had he not died — even with the video — there might have been a murmur of protest, but not the global burst of outrage that followed his death.

Every single day in America, Black men are killed, usually by other Black men. Does anyone care? Does Black Lives Matter march for them? 

Where is the solace and support for their families? How many of them get to meet with the President?

Is it mean to ask those questions?