Far-right media trolls are more interested in owning the liberals than ‘George Floyd’s murder’: conservative

Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is now officially a convicted murderer. On Tuesday, April 20, a jury in Minneapolis found the 45-year-old Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for his actions in connection with the May 25, 2020 killing of George Floyd. Journalist Benjamin Parker, in an article for the conservative website The Bulwark, analyzes right-wing media reactions to the verdict — and slams the far-right "trolls" who are claiming that liberals made it impossible for Chauvin to receive a fair trial.

Parker cites the reactions of far-right pundits to the jury's verdict as prime examples of everything that is intellectually bankrupt about the own-the-liberals school of punditry.

"We all saw it," Parker says of Floyd's death. "It was captured on video. It lasted nine interminable minutes. It ignited our righteous indignation — an oil fire floating on an ocean of grief. Most people felt this way about the video of the murder — yes, murder — of George Floyd last year. The officer responsible, Derek Chauvin, was convicted of three counts on Tuesday for snuffing out a man's life over the course of those nine excruciating minutes. Some observers, though, seem less concerned about the murder of George Floyd and more concerned about — well, it's hard to say what they are concerned about."

Parker continues, "Some of them are claiming that the trial was a set-up. Rigged. That the jury had it in for Chauvin. Or that Chauvin didn't really matter because the real villains were Joe Biden and Maxine Waters and Don Lemon, who somehow managed to pressure the jury into convicting Chauvin on all counts. Probably because they were afraid of cancel culture."

Parker goes on to say that even if they didn't outright defend Chauvin, the far-right media trolls were more interested in attacking liberals than justice for Floyd.

"The extremely online right has been doing something interesting in the hours since the verdict was announced," Parker observes. "They're not willing to be pro-Chauvin, exactly. Well, most of them, anyway. You don't see a lot of affirmative defenses of Chauvin being mounted, or a lot of folks proclaiming his innocence. But there is an awful lot of anti-anti-Chauvinism — so much so that it might well become the latest article of faith for conservatives in good standing."

Parker notes what far-right Matt Walsh had to say. Walsh posted, "The mob, led by Democrats at the highest level, successfully intimidated the jury into getting the result they wanted before the trial started." And Walsh also posted, "George Floyd's death will go down as the most consequential drug overdose in history."

CNN's Don Lemon said of the verdict, "Justice has been served." And far-right pundit Ben Shapiro, in response, posted, "And we all know he would never have said this had the reverse verdict been reached."

Turning Post USA's Charlie Kirk posted, "Do you think Chauvin got a fair trial?..... Biden's 'prayers' were answered. Maxine Waters got her way. Will it be enough to keep America from burning?"