#BlackLivesMatter

George Floyd’s girlfriend said Thursday that both struggled with opioid addiction for years — and said Floyd relapsed shortly before his police custody death on May 25.

Courteney Batya Ross, 45, also testified at the murder trial of ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin in Floyd’s death that he was a changed man after his mother’s death in 2018.

More extensive coverage at the Minnesota Star Tribune

Derek Chauvin’s supervisor testifies he wasn’t told immediately of knee on George Floyd’s neck or for how long

Derek Chauvin’s supervisory sergeant told jurors Thursday afternoon about the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s death as news of the incident spread through department administration.

Third Precinct Sgt. David Pleoger fielded concerns through 911 dispatch on May 25 about possible excessive use of force by officers while detaining Floyd, and his initial assessment was that it sounded more like a less serious “takedown,” according to dispatch audio from that night. He then headed to the scene while questioning Chauvin on what happened.

George Floyd “appeared to be high” when he handed over a counterfeit $20 bill in a Minneapolis convenience store, a clerk testified Wednesday — as never-before-seen surveillance footage shows him acting peculiar moments before his fatal confrontation with police.

The newly-released video from May 25, aired Wednesday during the murder trial of ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin, shows an animated Floyd inside the Cup Foods store with two companions, dancing and acting boisterous.

Major sporting events could be moved out of the state of Georgia if calls from Civil Rights groups are to be listened to.

Calls to move The Masters golf tournament and for the MLB All-Star game to be moved come after the state passed a controversial voting law Thursday.

Republican supporters say the new law is needed to restore confidence in Georgia’s elections. Democrats say it will restrict voting access, especially for voters of color.

But… 75% Support Voter ID Laws

h/t Mauser

Two legal teams fought tooth and nail over three gruelling weeks. This week, they rounded out the jury panel for arguably the highest profile murder trial in Minnesota history.

Former police officer Derek Chauvin goes on trial next Monday on two counts of murder and one count of manslaughter over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, last May in the city of Minneapolis.

Fourteen jurors, who will remain anonymous and unseen throughout the televised trial, will decide whether Mr Chauvin should serve time in prison or be acquitted.

Riots regardless.

George Floyd was a forty-six-year-old truck driver and minor hip-hop rapper with the group “Screwed Up Click”. Between 1997 and 2013 he was also a career criminal, serving eight terms in prison for a range of offences including drug possession and delivery, theft and trespass. In 2009, he was sentenced to five years in prison for armed robbery during a home invasion. Paroled in January 2013, he determined to go straight, joined an evangelical church, and moved from his home in Texas to Minneapolis. There he became a truck driver and nightclub bouncer—he was six feet six inches tall—and security guard. 

h/t Marvin

Minneapolis is on edge as the trial of Derek Chauvin kicks off. Chauvin is the police officer who was caught on video last May with his knee on the neck of George Floyd, whose subsequent death ignited protests around the country and the world. Chauvin is now being tried for the murder and manslaughter of Floyd.