Good morning! It’s Sunday, November 23, 2025.
Today in History:
1976: Frenchman Jacques Mayol is the first person to dive 100 meters (~328ft) in the sea without breathing equipment He broke his own record seven years later by diving to 105 meters (~350ft).
1963: Doctor Who debuts on TV
1869: Clipper Cutty Sark is launched in Dumbarton, Scotland. It was one of the last clippers ever built and the only one still surviving.
1248: The Conquest of Seville begins under King Ferdinand III of Castile. Some historians suggest he was simply looking for a good Barber (OK, I made that part up).
Birthdays today include Miley Cyrus, Billy the Kid, and Sen. Charles Schumer.
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Buckle up, kids. This one’s going to be a little bit of a rough ride.
I’ve been watching the developments in the government’s case against Derek Chauvin. Another person who has also been watching and who has been rather vocal about it is a former law-enforcement, former-Marine type under the handle “Flopping Aces”. This morning, his newest post has some rather interesting info.
We’ll get to that in a minute, but I want to first make clear my position: I have always been convinced that George Floyd killed himself, overdosing on the fentanyl he swallowed to hide from the police the fact that he was carrying the stuff with the intent to sell it.
I have also been convinced that the court had in mind not equal justice under the law, but racial justice by way of judicial fiat, which is a totally different thing.There was witness intimidation happening here as well, which was well documented. For example, I note with interest a column here at PJ Media by Victoria Taft:
One defense witness already had the bloody head of a pig left on what intimidators thought was his front porch in punishment for testifying on behalf of Derek Chauvin. Now, state-sponsored intimidators are targeting another defense witness in the trial of the police officer accused of killing George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020. His offense? Wrong-think.
Dr. David Fowler, the former Maryland medical examiner and forensic pathologist, testified for defendant Derek Chauvin on day 13 of the trial that the former cop’s actions weren’t solely responsible for George Floyd’s death. And because of this opinion, Maryland will now investigate 17 years of his findings in state cases, which includes the case of Freddie Gray, Anton Black, and other high-profile perps who died in police custody. Fowler ruled Gray’s death several days after being in police custody a “homicide,” a medical term which means another contributed to his death. Police officers put on trial for his death were exonerated.
Specifically, Fowler testified that George Floyd died because he “had a sudden cardiac arrhythmia due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease, during his restraint by the police,” as trial watcher attorney Andrew Branca put it.
Evidence presented at trial and acknowledged by both sides showed that Floyd suffered from an enlarged heart, 90% and 75% occlusions in his arteries going into and out of his heart, years of drug abuse and anxiety, skyrocketing blood pressure, had ingested an opioid and meth cocktail, smoked for years, was right by the police cruiser exhaust, and struggled for ten minutes against three cops, which necessitated the knee hold on Floyd in the prone position.
Victoria’s piece also references the involvement of Keith Ellison, who was putting everything he had at his disposal. in total, there were 14 lawyers on the case, compared to Chauvin’s one defense lawyer.
The American Spectator had a piece at the time that has since (I assume) cycled off between then and now. Thankfully, I managed to save a snippet of it:
I called Dr. Baker early that morning to tell him about the case and to ask him if he would perform the autopsy on Mr. Floyd,” said Sweasy under oath. “He called me later in the day on that Tuesday and he told me that there were no medical findings that showed any injury to the vital structures of Mr. Floyd’s neck. There were no medical indications of asphyxia or strangulation,” Sweasy added.
By day two, Baker knew the risks involved in telling the truth. Sweasy continued, “He said to me, ‘Amy, what happens when the actual evidence doesn’t match up with the public narrative that everyone’s already decided on?’ And then he said, ‘This is the kind of case that ends careers.’” Although Sweasy knows very well why Baker altered his diagnosis, Carlson may not. This story bears retelling in the light of Sweasy’s unwitting confirmation.
So, what is being done to overcome this injustice? Flopping Aces tells us:
Attorney Greg Joseph has filed a “Memorandum in support of petition for postconviction relief” on behalf of his client Derek Chauvin—the former Minneapolis police officer involved in the arrest and death of George Floyd.
In the 71-page petition (PDF) filed in Hennepin County District Court, Joseph stated that “this case simply never made sense.” Among several key arguments, he pointed out how few murders “take place before a crowd of witnesses” while officers are working with dispatchers and requesting an ambulance and emergency response.
In speaking about the case for the first time since it was filed on Thursday, Nov. 20, Joseph also pointed out key facts—and raised questions about how video evidence was used during the trial. He also underscored the “potential for misuse” of video evidence and the “devastating effect” that false testimony can have in court and the judicial process.
The petition states that the case involved two key issues: intent and causation. That is, one, whether the restraint of Floyd followed policies and procedures of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD); and two, if the restraint caused his death.
In seeking to vacate Chauvin’s conviction, or obtain a new trial, the petition argues that Chauvin “was deprived of his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the Minnesota Constitution.”
In speaking about the prosecution—and what he believes was the false testimony of MPD Inspector Katie Blackwell, Chief Medaria Arradondo, and others during Chauvin’s trial—Joseph told Alpha News, “you can only run from the truth for so long.”
Joseph explained in the petition how the prosecution relied on “video and still frames” to tell “a single story.” But now, long after the “hysteria of the day,” the court and the rest of the world may finally be able to look at the facts and evidence “through a clear lens.”
The petition also references the lawsuit filed by Blackwell against Liz Collin, Dr. JC Chaix, Alpha News, and others.
Joseph’s petition cites the findings of Hennepin County Judge Wahl in that case.
Blackwell filed the lawsuit and claimed that she was defamed in Collin’s book, “They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and the Death of George Floyd” and later in the documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis,” which Collin produced.
Collin wrote: “it doesn’t seem like Blackwell, Arradondo, Mercil, and other so-called expert witnesses were telling the truth … It seems more like they were lying by omission, if not lying outright.”
Judge Wahl found that despite Blackwell’s claim, she was not defamed, and that the statements that Collin wrote in her book were “substantially true.”
Joseph’s petition for Chauvin also references the 34 current and former MPD officers who provided sworn declarations about how the restraint that Chauvin used was in fact part of MPD training, to the contrary of Blackwell’s testimony during Chauvin’s trial. In addition to those 34 officers, Chauvin’s petition includes declarations from 23 additional officers who came forward.
Yes, I know: There’s a good deal of quoted material here. In light of the controversy surrounding this case, however, it is in my view required to bring all this stuff to light. Bucking the system requires having all the ducks lined up, and I do not want anything left out.
I have always felt that the court case was biased due to political pressure, and that the court was not focused on the evidence, but rather on the violence of the rioters and the desire to avoid being seen as “racist.” I strongly suggest that, in doing so, they became exactly what they sought to avoid: racist.
The thing is, if the petition is anything like accurate (as I believe it to be), that feeling is quite justified. This whole thing stinks to high heaven.
I will doubtless be told that we all want justice and that we’re all the same. To which I say: When George Floyd killed himself, OD’d on the Fentanyl he carried, and was trying to sell, businesses were looted, cities were burned and they erected statues to a career criminal. When Charlie Kirk was brutally murdered for simply speaking the truth, we held prayer vigils. No, we are not the same. That bears on this case, in this manner.
Let’s look at this hypothetically and address the question of racism. Reverse the roles. Let’s imagine the Chauvin was black and Floyd was white. Does anyone suppose this conversation would even be taking place? You and I both know the police officer wouldn’t have been in jail for the last five years.
Make no mistake: Floyd’s death was a tragedy, but so too was his life.
The Flopping Aces link makes reference to the chatter some months back about President Trump considering a pardon for Chauvin. In truth, I’m glad that hasn’t happened. As much as I’d like to see him out of that prison (for his safety as much as anything else, given the knife attack on him some months ago), I believe justice is better served by the court system overturning his conviction based on the evidence. As Victoria says in her piece:
The Chauvin case has been surrounded by threats, riots, looting, and intimidation by politicians and civil rights grifters in every way you could imagine. That should be investigated too.
That undue influence affected the outcome of this case, and on that basis alone his conviction should be overturned. If we cannot do that, then we have no business calling it a “justice system.” I am also of the opinion, based on what I’ve seen in this case over the years, that Trump’s DOJ should be opening a civil rights investigation against Keith Ellison for violating Chauvin’s civil rights.
Have a great Sunday. I’ll see you here tomorrow.
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