Chauvin Juror Lied to Get on Jury; Black Lives Matter Activist Who Wanted to "Spark Social Change"

For those thinking, "They'll have to declare a mistrial now," sorry, you haven't been paying attention.

The law is dead. America is dead.

Derek Chauvin juror LIED about protest: Cop's hope of appeal boosted after picture emerges of juror at BLM rally wearing 'Get Your Knee Off Our Necks' T-shirt despite telling court he'd never been on a march

Brandon Mitchell was one of 12 jurors who convicted Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin of the second-degree murder of George Floyd last month

Mitchell, a 31-year-old black man, was photographed on social media attending an August 28 protest in Washington, DC at which Floyd's relatives spoke

Mitchell is seen in the photograph wearing a t-shirt with a picture of Martin Luther King Jr and the words 'GET YOUR KNEE OFF OUR NECKS' and 'BLM'

He is also wearing a baseball cap embossed with 'Black Lives Matter'

Mitchell acknowledged being at the event and that his uncle posted the photo, but claims he doesn't recall wearing or owning the shirt or cap

Mitchell said he answered 'no' to two questions about demonstrations on the questionnaire sent out before jury selection

Legal experts say the revelation will likely be brought up on appeal by Chauvin's attorney, Eric Nelson, who will argue his client was denied impartial jury

...

Mitchell has admitted the photo is of him from that date, but defended attending the rally, claiming it was not explicitly a protest against police or a commemoration for George Floyd.

That is despite the fact that Floyd's brother and sister, Philonise and Bridgett Floyd, and relatives of other African Americans who have been shot by police addressed the crowd that day.

On that topic: Angelo Codevilla on the American Oligarchy, and many establishment conservatives' complete confusion about what time it is.

Americans struggle to understand what is happening because we still regard ourselves as citizens, and imagine that those who run our republican institutions still respect them to some extent. We see persons whom the ruling class favors committing crimes with impunity, and complain of "a two-tiered justice system." But this is not mere corruption. We see corporations wielding government powers and complain that power is being franchised to favorites. But these are not mere favorites of the regime. This is the new regime being itself. Such things are not deviations from republican legality. They are the assertion of oligarchic reality. This is oligarchic justice, oligarchic normality. The republic was yesterday. The oligarchy is today.

Conservatives' congenital mistake is to try conserving something that no longer exists by supporting institutions that now belong to a regime so alien to republican life that it treats attempts at citizenship as crimes against the regime. And so they are. They call today's American regime "our democracy." It is "theirs," all right, but not ours. It is a classic oligarchy.

What’s an Ex-citizen To Do?

First, stop pretending. Begin by rejecting--in heart and mind entirely, and publicly as prudence may dictate--the authority of the oligarchs who now control what used to be our republican institutions. Realize that you enjoy the rights God gave you only to the extent that your fellow ex-citizens recognize them, and that your only hope of continuing enjoyment lies in leaguing with them, on turning your back on the oligarchy and on effectively living republican lives with similarly minded people.

Citizenship is possible only when the many join together in the kind of mixed regime for the general good that our oligarchs rejected. Turning our backs to the oligarchy is possible for the twin purpose of rejecting un-republican rule and as the assertion of a new republican way of life. Citizenship happens when individuals join together under leaders of their choice to achieve common goals, both positive and negative.

Rejection of oligarchy is possible, even easy, if and when large numbers of persons do it together. This goes for ostensibly private corporations as well as for formerly republican institutions now in the oligarchs' hands. The moment that millions of Americans, whether led by actual state governors in league with one another or by prospective presidents, recognize that Twitter and Facebook are enemy institutions, their power ends. The moment that millions are led to boycott Costco, or Pfizer, their officers are fired. The moment that these millions, so led, refuse the legitimacy of anything coming from Washington, its power ends.

Our oligarchs, having seen how easy it was to cower the majority of Americans to agree to the stupid, self-destructive practices of mask-wearing and lockdowns, having rejoiced in ruining the lives of small numbers of individual dissenters, believing that, under the media's cover, their threats to crush opponents as white supremacists will forestall serious resistance, fantasize about applying the tools of the war on terror to America's population.

But no. Their success was due to what remained of the American people's confidence in them. That is now gone. The oligarchs have the FBI and CIA, and the Pentagon's generals. But who will risk his pension, never mind his life, for them? Who will risk anything for Kamala Harris, never mind Joseph Biden?

posted by Ace at 12:08 PM

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