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Derek Chauvin, three other police officers, the rest of American policemen, law enforcement generally, the legal system, racism and racial justice are on trial in a Minneapolis courtroom.

First, the sketchy facts of the case. African-American George Floyd was arrested after allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Officer George Chauvin held him to the ground by pressing his knee against his neck for nine minutes and 29 seconds. By the time the ambulance arrived, George Floyd was dead.

Chauvin is charged with manslaughter, second degree murder and third degree murder. He faces the possibility of 40 years in prison.

George Floyd’s last words—“I can’t breathe”—sparked the worst race riots in American society and spilled over into 69 countries around the world. “Black Lives Matter” became the chant of an estimated 26 million protesters across the US. Ninety-three percent were classified as peaceful. But the ones that weren’t caused an estimated $2 billion in damage.

The Black Lives Matter riots were were seen by African-Americans as the culmination of centuries of brutal, legalised racism by American law enforcement. It started with slavery and extended through the Jim Crow era of indiscriminate lynchings and continued past the civil rights era.

African-Americans have fought back. The 4 April 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr by Earl Ray sparked off what was dubbed the “Holy Week Riots” In 110 American cities. In 1992 four Los Angeles policemen were acquitted over using “excessive force” in the beating of African-American Rodney King. The riots that followed left 2,383 arrested, 12,000 injured and 63 dead as well as causing $1billion worth of damage.

The fatal shooting of 18-year Michael Brown by policeman Darren Wilson in October 2014 led to years of simmering and at times explosive violence in Ferguson, Missouri, mainly because Wilson never stood trial. The Ferguson Riots saw the emergence of the right-wing militia group the Oath Keepers who maintained rooftop patrols during the disturbances. A Department of Justice investigation determined that the local police force had engaged in systematic misconduct against the local African-American community.

The motto of American police is “To Serve and Protect.” African-Americans ask: to serve and protect whom? They don’t believe it is them. George Floyd was one of 765 Americans killed as a result of police action 2020. Twenty-eight percent of them were Black. African-Americans comprised 14 percent of the total US population.

Being killed by a policeman is the sixth most likely cause of death for African-American men. One third of American jailbirds are Black. By the way, America makes up five percent of the world population and 21 percent of the world prison population.

Another disturbing trend is growing links between White supremacist militias and the police and military. There are estimated to be over 70 active militia groups in the US. The FBI has reported that the greatest threat to American security and democratic values is from the far right. Of the more than 400 people arrested as a result of the Capitol Hill Riots 50 were connected to the military and law enforcement, and the most serious charges are being levelled at that group.

One of the reasons for Black anger is that the police are largely protected from prosecution by something called “Qualified Immunity”. Under this 1871 law the prosecution has to prove a link between the crime on trial and a clear precedent. As each case is different, it is almost impossible to draw a connection that satisfies the courts. As a result, between 2005 and 2020, only five policemen were convicted of murder.

The identity of the 12 jurors and two alternates in the Chauvin/Floyd case are secret. They are hidden from public view and sequestered every night at an undisclosed location. Judge Peter Cahill has a police guard. They are targets of both White Supremacists and Black activists, and rest assured the trial’s outcome will leave one of these two groups dissatisfied, with predictable results.

* Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and author of “The Encyclopedia of the War” and the recently published “America Made in Britain". He has a weekly podcast, Transatlantic Riff.