The problem is that people are going to read that rap sheet and they are going to use it as a reason to dismiss the claims of Black Lives Matter and the calls for change in policing.

Everyone is either missing or ignoring the salient point in all of this: Mr. Floyd's past doesn't matter; the fact that he instigated the encounter that ended in his death doesn't matter; the only thing that matters is that Officer Derek Chauvin murdered him, which is totally unacceptable behavior, even from a cop who had a disciplinary rap sheet longer than Floyd's.

Then add to that the fact that the method of the murder was especially cruel and agonizing for Mr. Floyd.

Would it have made a difference to Chauvin if Floyd would have been white, Latino, or Asian? We'll probably never know. However, use of those tactics on anyone is unacceptable.