I hardly ripped on them. In fact, I barely mentioned them. What I find strange is people who are so eager to defend what we saw on camera. Would you take the same stance if it was somebody you cared about lying handcuffed under Chauvin's knee? We really need to be more consistent in how we apply empathy.

As for when Floyd first said that he couldn't breathe, there are conflicting narratives about when that was. But let's say you're right. Shouldn't the fact that a suspect is having trouble breathing be MORE of a reason not to kneel on him when he's already restrained?

In Nazario's case (to be clear, being white is about how you look, not what your surname is), driving a mile took him just over a minute. He switched on his blinkers immediately to indicate he was complying. And most importantly, he was legally entitled to find a safe spot to pull over. I'll tell you who records themselves being stopped by police; people who have experience of being threatened by them, as Nazarioo repeatedly was. He didn't feign confusion, he'd done absolutely nothing wrong. So he asked, politely, for clarification.

Given how Guttierez behaved, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be dealing with him in a dark spot. And the pepper spray was *maybe* unnecessary? It seems you're heavily invested in defending behaviour which has been universally condemned. Why is that? Do you seriously think the police should treat citizens like that?

We can quibble until the end of time about where exactly Chauvin's knee was, or when Floyd said what, or whether Chauvin's knee was the primary cause of death or merely an exacerbating one (again, I doubt you'd be quibbling if it was somebody you cared about lying in the street), but the point is this: cops get away with this, and worse, time and time again. Until that changes, public confidence in the police will remain low. And understandably so in my opinion.

I deliberately spent time in the article emphasising that "not all cops are evil". But your apparent position of "cops should be able to treat citizens however they like" is equally wrong.