The cop charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of George Floyd is grasping at straws. His attorney has now made a shocking and ridiculous claim. He says that the civilian bystanders who watched Floyd die should have intervened. That argument will of course backfire in a glorious fashion.Earl Gray, the lawyer for fired officer and current defendant Thomas Lane appeared on CNN Monday night and told Chris Cuomo that if the bystanders were so outraged they should have done something and stepped in. Cuomo was taken aback by the notion that bystanders would intervene against four armed police officers.
In so many words what Gray is conceding is that there was clearly excessive force, otherwise, why would he advocate for a civilian to intervene? Since there is clear excessive force, as shown in the video, Gray’s client would have a greater duty that any civilian to stop it being an officer of the law. Lane should have yanked Derek Chavin off of George Floyd as soon as he saw the initial use of excessive force and that is precisely the reason why he is being charged.
George Floyd’s murder has triggered a lot of change in the country, but clearly it has not changed the way cops continue to defend themselves and each other against brutality claims. The notion that average citizens have some kind of culpability is outrageous. It is not surprising at all that these cops and their lawyers are trying to deflect the blame.No one else is pointing the finger at the innocent bystanders and expecting them to accept responsibility for a man’s death just to take some of the heat off of yourself is pathetic.