Before the number of years Derek Chauvin would serve was announced, we noted that "The popular/safe wisdom would be somewhere in the 20-25 range." His Honor decided to split the difference and go with 22.5. I don't really have an opinion on whether that's too little or too much because I figure Chauvin has other punishments yet to come and very little chance of ever resuming anything resembling a normal life.
And no cop who thinks at all is going to think it's okay to kill a suspect because the price for that is "only" 270 months in prison. Unfortunately, too many will probably think Chauvin is the outlier…the unfortunate officer who got held accountable. But it's something.
I couldn't help but make a connection. We have that too-rare example of a policeman who was punished for excessive force. And then you have these new reports about how, when people were protesting the murder of George Floyd, then-President Trump wanted violent action taken against the protesters…
"That's how you're supposed to handle these people," Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials, according to [Wall Street Journal reporter Michael] Bender. "Crack their skulls!" Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and "beat the f–k out" of the civil rights protesters, Bender writes.
"Just shoot them," Trump said on multiple occasions inside the Oval Office, according to the excerpts. When [Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark] Milley and then-Attorney General William Barr would push back, Trump toned it down, but only slightly, Bender adds. "Well, shoot them in the leg — or maybe the foot," Trump said. "But be hard on them!"
I can't think of a glib closing line here. I just thought the two matters ought to be mentioned in the same blog post somewhere.