Again, I'm not going to say willful, in that they intended to kill him, because I don't think I believe that that was their intended goal.The part that will be the most damning, is the reaction of the on-lookers.I don't have to know the specifics of police maneuvers and policy to know that what I saw on video, if he was following his training, is faulty training.
I know those officers have to take classes on more than just how to use a gun and how to take down someone. Officers generally have to take classes periodically throughout their career and I believe some of them are psychology classes.
I don't disagree that Chauvin was taught the knee on the neck maneuver in training, but when they failed to consider his pleading, his repeated claims, and for 5 minutes they knelt on his limp body, either they ignored their training, or the training was faulty to not teach them to be more aware of the situation.
They were all screaming, begging them to let up on him, clearly saw the man dying.
How can civilians understand what was happening more than trained professionals?!?? This is inexcusable....aka willful.
Not to mention, their fellow police, who saw it necessary to report their actions to their superiors.
It was wrong.
And Chauvin will pay for it.
Maybe I'm thinking of it differently, but, willful would imply an intent to kill. I think they were just not paying attention and observing Floyd's situation, and they failed to react properly, and perhaps if they were actually trained to remain on someone's neck for a certain period of time, that training is....faulty, and needs to be revised.
I do agree, it looks bad that the onlookers were making the suggestions that the police should have been thinking of. Heck, even if the police weren't thinking that, the onlookers telling them should have been a reminder to do what they were suggesting.