The untimely death of George Floyd in Minneapolis provoked widespread leftist outrage in May of 2020, ushering in a violent summer of unrestrained civil unrest that led to looting, arson, and widespread destruction of businesses green lit by the millions of Americans furious about his death.
After a video circulated online showing Minneapolis police officer Officer Derek Chauvin holding his knee on Floyd’s neck, the media was quick to frame the man’s death as a murder. Still, Americans who objected to the months of protests and riots remain skeptical, even after Chauvin was convicted of second degree murder on all counts.
Since May of 2020, videos have surfaced that seem to show Floyd behaving in a strange and erratic manner while handling a banana inside the convenience store where he allegedly tried to pass a fake bill, which prompted his fatal interaction with police.
Some used this as evidence that his drug use may have played a significant role in his death.
Further, during the confrontation with the police officers – captured by the police vehicle’s dashcam – Floyd claimed that he couldn’t breathe at least 28 times, including well before Chauvin’s knee was ever on his neck.
The medical examiner who testified in court said that Floyd’s heart disease and drug use contributed to his death, but concluded that police officers’ restraint of his body and compression of Floyd’s neck were the primary causes of death.
Chauvin, now convicted, is currently serving 22 years in prison over Floyd’s murder. The remaining officers involved in the fatal incident are set to go on state trial in mid-June for aiding and abetting the murder. Floyd’s family, meanwhile, has received millions of dollars in settlements and from charities.
The reaction to Floyd’s death, from the media to the medical examiner, could not contrast more from the death of January 6 protester Rosanne Boyland.
Like hundreds of thousands of frustrated Trump supporters, Boyland traveled to Washington, D.C. for the Save America rally at the Ellipse on January 6 to support 45th President Donald J. Trump in his contest of the 2020 election results.
When the crowd eventually made their way to the Capitol grounds, Boyland found herself inside the Capitol tunnel while protesters filed in towards the double doors leading to the inside of the building.
Minutes later, police are seen on video pushing the crowd away. Boyland was observed at looking down as the crowd moved back toward the entrance.
Minutes after that, she disappeared from sight after falling to the ground as police continued pushing the crowd, resulting in bodies piling on the stairs.
Despite pleas from other protesters asking police to stop pushing because people had fallen to the ground, they continued to push the crowd. Protesters who attempted to pull people away were pepper sprayed.
“They were ruling it acute amphetamine intoxication. I said, ‘No, no, no. That’s not right. I can’t believe it.’”
Lonna Cave, sister of Rosanne Boyland
Seven minutes later, a man holding metal crutches attempted to block officers from striking a woman who appeared to be Boyland. By now, she was laying on the ground, and appeared to have been trampled by the crowd.
After the U.S. Department of Justice released bodycam videos, and after cellphone videos of the situation were posted to social media, a clearer picture came into view. Videos suggest Boyland was hit by a police officer repeatedly with what looks to be a baton.
Boyland was then carried to the sidewalk in front of the police line, where protesters frantically attempted to give her CPR.
Police appeared to physically remove those trying to assist her. Officers then dragged her lifeless body into Capitol building.
“She’s dying! She’s dying,” one man said to the officers. One officer apparently swore in response, “That’s on you, mother [expletive].”
Jonathan Mellis, a witness to Boyland’s murder, told investigative journalist Cara Castronuova in August of 2021 that he “saw her lifeless body being crushed under the officers and hit with their batons.”
He added, “They were kicking her viciously. I acted to get them off her. I was maced.”
Boyland’s sister, Lonna Cave, said that there is more video where Boyland is dragged away by police.
“The guys who are out there with her are doing CPR,” she said, “and one of the police officers like picks up her leg and starts dragging her down the tunnel.”
Cave was told by Washington, D.C.’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s office last April that her sister had died of “acute amphetamine intoxication,” likely stemming from the active chemical ingredient in Adderall, which Boyland had been taking by prescription to treat her ADHD.
“They were ruling it acute amphetamine intoxication,” said Cave. “I said, ‘No, no, no. That’s not right. I can’t believe it.’” Cave added that Boyland’s sobriety was important to her, and that she was used her legal Adderall prescription intermittently.
“I highly doubt that if she was sitting on the couch, like she was on [January] 5, that she would have died,” she added.
At this point, conservatives should be asking questions.
Where are the arrests of the officers involved? Where are the widespread riots from those who supposedly stand against police brutality?
Why do fact checkers denounce those who wonder if being crushed by the crowd and beaten by police may have contributed to the “acute amphetamine intoxication?”
Why hasn’t Rosanne Boyland received the same standard of justice as George Floyd?
In the case of Floyd, his illegal hard drug use and heart problems that resulted contributed to his death, but they were not listed as the primary cause. In effect — police brutality was.
In the case of Boyland, a complication from her commonplace, legal, prescription to treat ADHD was named as the primary cause of death, apparently without consideration of the fact that she was crushed, trampled and beaten then dragged away by police officers while unconscious, even as protesters tried to provide first aid.
She couldn’t breathe, and reportedly gasped for help, but the calls for justice are confined mostly to Boyland’s immediate family.
Her sister still wants to know why the police officer who beat her sister isn’t under investigation.
“Why in this case is this policewoman not being held accountable? Why is nobody investigating her?” Cave asked, “Why isn’t anybody talking about it?”
She added, “It’s mind-boggling.”
