The jurors were specifically asked if they had participated in George Floyd protests.
In Chauvin’s case, the jury selection process began months before the potential jurors started answering questions in court; the jury pool received an extensive 16-page questionnaire in the mail in December.
Potential jurors were asked if they had seen the video of Floyd’s death and, if so, how many times. They were quizzed on their media consumption and asked whether they marched in protests after Floyd died, and, if so, whether they carried signs.
…and…
One woman said during jury selection that she had marched and carried a sign. A short time later, Chauvin’s defense struck her from the jury.
Except it turns out at least one juror was walking around with a BLM “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks” T-Shirt at a rally.
A photo is making the rounds on social media of Brandon Mitchell attending the March on Washington back in August, which commemorated the 57th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. giving his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
You can always expect the media to leave out very basic context.
This was apparently the Sharpton ‘Commitment March: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks’ which he announced at Floyd’s funeral.
Sharpton called to restore and recommit to the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., saying, they were going back in August “to stand up, because just like in one era, we had to fight slavery. Another era, we had to fight Jim Crow. Another era, we dealt with voting rights. This is the era to deal with policing and criminal justice.”
“We need to go back to Washington and stand up – black, white, Latino, Arab in the shadows of Lincoln and tell them ‘This is the time to stop this,’” he continued.
Sharpton said the march is going to be led by the families that “know the pain” and know what it’s like to be “neglected,” including the families of Floyd and Eric Garner, a black man who was choked to death in 2014 by a police officer in New York.The reverend also said the march is “going to be getting us ready to vote, not just for who’s going to be in the White House, but the statehouse and the city councils that allow these policing measures to go unquestioned.”
If Mitchell attended Sharpton’s hate rally, that was a Floyd protest.
In the image, Mitchell is wearing a T-shirt featuring the likeness of King, surrounded by text that reads “Get Your Knee Off Our Necks,” and “BLM.”
Floyd’s family spoke briefly at that march. Mitchell told WCCO he was there to take part in a voter registration rally, not to protest — and that he was an unbiased juror.
“It was huge to get people geared for voter turnout, so being a part of that, being able to attend, you know, the same location where Martin Luther King gave his speech was a historic moment,” Mitchell said. “Either way, I was going to D.C. for this event, even if George Floyd was still alive.”
He was going to an event that was announced at Floyd’s funeral even if Floyd were alive?
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