Brian O’Hara, the Chief of the Minneapolis Police Department, declares in the StarTribune. “Millions of us watched in horror as Derek Chauvin pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes, ignoring his cries for help, the pleas of bystanders and ultimately the absence of any movement from Floyd’s body. Police officers and even police union leadership around the country condemned Minneapolis for allowing this to happen and for causing us problems in cities around the world that summer. We all knew what we saw, and we all knew it was wrong.” Here are O’Hara’s other comments on this subject:[1]
- “Chauvin’s actions were indefensible, and his choice to kneel on a handcuffed, unresponsive man’s neck for an extended period was not in line with any legitimate police training in the civilized world.”
- “During Chauvin’s trial, multiple experts — including Blackwell and several otherMPD officers — testified that what he did was not taught or condoned by MPD. This wasn’t just opinion. It was a fact backed up by training records, other courageous officers’ testimony, and the public condemnation of Chauvin’s actions by dozens of his own colleagues. In the immediate aftermath of Floyd’s death, 14 MPD officers signed an open letter to the public explicitly stating that Chauvin’s actions ‘were not the values we were trained in’ and that his use of force was completely unjustified.”
- “Now, nearly five years later, some are attempting to rewrite history by attacking Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell, a longtime Minneapolis police officer and one of the highest-ranking enlisted women in the Minnesota National Guard, for her testimony in Chauvin’s criminal trial. Alpha News and reporter Liz Collinhave accused Blackwell of lying when she stated that Chauvin’s actions were not part of the Minneapolis Police Department’s training. But let’s be clear: Chauvin’s actions were indefensible, and his choice to kneel on a handcuffed, unresponsive man’s neck for an extended period was not in line with any legitimate police training in the civilized world.”
- These recent attacks on Blackwell’s testimony are prompted “to sow doubt about the legitimacy of Chauvin’s conviction and to undermine efforts to reform policing in Minneapolis.”
- But “Chauvin was not a scapegoat — his actions betrayed the values of our noble profession. Blackwell, in her difficult role as a witness, simply did what any professional and any true leader would do: She told the truth. She testified to what every reasonable officer knows — that kneeling on the neck of a handcuffed, non-resistant suspect for more than nine minutes, to the point where he is lifeless, is not proper policing, nor is it a trained technique.”
- “We must remain focused on what truly matters: building a police department of integrity, one that is able to self-correct. This starts with recognizing that Chauvin acted well outside the bounds of his training and his duty. It also means defending those, like Assistant Chief Blackwell, who courageously spoke out against misconduct rather than enabling those who would excuse it.”
The recent controversy over Chauvin’s conviction and the criminal trial testimony of Katy Blackwell have been discussed in another blog post and newspaper articles.[2]
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[1] O’Hara, The truth about the tragic actions of Derek Chauvin, StarTribune (Feb.11, 2025). This blog has an extensive number of posts about the trials and convictions of Chauvin and the other three Minneapolis policemen involved in the killing of Mr. Floyd. (List of Posts to dwkcommentaries—Topical: George Floyd Killing.)
[2] More Litigation About the George Floyd Killing, dwkcommentaries.com (Jan. 17, 2025); Day, High-ranking Minneapolis Police Department officer sues Liz Collin, Alpha News for defamation, StarTribune (Oct. 15, 2024); MPD Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell calls Alpha News ‘extremists in ‘garbage’ lawsuit. Alpha News (Oct. 15, 2024);Day, Defamation lawsuit against ‘The Fall of Minneapolis’ documentary faces high legal hurdles, StarTribune (Oct. 25, 2024); 14 current and former Minneapolis cops say Assistant Chief Katie Blackwell LIED during trial of Derek Chauvin, The Post Millennial, (Jan. 7, 2025); Over a dozen current and former officers say they believe MPD’s Katie Blackwell perjured herself during Derek Chauvin trial, Law Officer (Jan. 7, 2025); Day, Ex-MPD officers, politicians defend ‘ The Fall of Minneapolis,’ Liz Collin in defamation lawsuit, StarTribune (Jan. 7, 2025); Director of ‘The Fall of Minneapolis’ responds to defamation lawsuit after bombshell court filings, Alpha News (Jan. 8, 2025);Packed courtroom listens as Alpha News seeks dismissal of defamation lawsuit brought by Minneapolis police officer, StarTribune (Feb. 7, 2025); Gorkowski, Judge hears motion to dismiss defamation lawsuit against Alpha News, Liz Collin, Alpha News (Feb. 8, 2025).