Former Republican South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy said Sunday that the killing of George Floyd should have rated a “Murder One” charge from Minnesota prosecutors.
“I think you need to do what fits the facts, and to me, I think it’s a Murder One charge,” Gowdy told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo.”
Derek Chauvin, the former officer seen in a viral video holding Floyd on the ground with a knee on his neck, was arrested and charged with third degree murder and manslaughter Friday. (RELATED: Owner Of Gutted Minneapolis Shopping Center Tells Governor And Mayor: ‘People Will Uprise Over This’)
“If you have a man with your knee on his neck and he is telling you, ‘you’re killing me, I cannot breathe, you’re killing me,’ how long does it take for pre-meditation to manifest itself?” Gowdy asked, adding that the facts indicated “the intentional taking, the unlawful taking of someone’s life — and that is murder.”
The former prosecutor said he doubts that the police officers implicated in the event “went to the scene with the intent to kill” Floyd but that it should have been obvious that the unarmed man was dying as a result of their actions.
“When you’re being warned that your conduct is taking someone’s life, isn’t that pre-meditation? Isn’t that consciousness of guilt that you need to prove an intent to kill? So Murder Three is the easiest charge, but I was never a prosecutor that liked to go for the easiest thing,” Gowdy told Fox News. (RELATED: Trump Says He Did Not Call For Shooting Looters, Just That ‘Looting Leads To Shooting’)
A protester holds a sign outside the Florida home of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was recorded with his knee on the neck of African-American man George Floyd before his death, in the Windermere neighbourhood of Orlando, Florida, U.S. May 29, 2020. REUTERS/Scott Audette
The Fox News contributor also said the prosecutors “took too long” in laying charges if they were only going to go as far as third degree murder and manslaughter.
“In Minnesota … Murder Three is the doing of an inherently dangerous thing that results in someone’s death,” which Gowdy said should have been obvious in this case.
Rioting and looting occurred in Minneapolis and in cities across America beginning Friday night. The police force in the city even evacuated the city’s 3rd Precinct headquarters Thursday before it was set ablaze.
