Radley Balko Defends the George Floyd Orthodoxy/Verdict: "The Retconning of George Floyd"

This guy seems to be a lefty loon, but he's got some interesting arguments defending the orthodoxy on Floyd. I haven't read the whole thing--largely because the author is obviously so biased and far to the left that he can't be trusted to produce the straight dope. I'm not interested enough in the issue to go through it all with a fine-tooth comb, so I'll wait to see what e.g. Coleman Hughes has to say about it. Also, there's already dishonest bullshit a few paragraphs into the thing...and that's enough for me to put this thing on the back burner unless someone I trust says otherwise. For example, a few paragraphs in, the author claims:

It is not true — not by a long shot — that MRT is what Derek Chauvin used on George Floyd.

Then he goes on to argue--to put it accurately instead of the way the author does--that Chauvin did use the MRT, but didn't use it exactly as the manual specifies. This doesn't seem to be a line-drawing quibble over the difference between using it incorrect and not using it, either. Rather, the author is apparently claiming that, because the officers didn't also employ a hobble, as specified by the manual, Chauvin wasn't using the MRT. 

   I'd also guess--just a guess, to be clear--that the training manual is largely for CYA purposes--for the MPD, not for individual officers. I'd guess--guess--that the officers involved in the Floyd incident followed the complicated procedures about as well as such procedures are ever followed.

   Furthermore, the author obscures--in what I read, anyway--the fact that representatives of the MPD and the prosecutors lied in court about whether the MRT was an MPD-approved technique.

   The author also writes that Floyd was "passively resisting" the officers during the arrest--a patent lie. Watch the full video--there's no way to rationally argue that Floyd was merely "passively resisting." The author's argument seems to be that, since he didn't punch or kick anyone, that's passive! (Actually, I think he did kick the cops at some point, anyway.) 

   But, anyway, mixed in with his bitchy rhetoric there do seem to be arguments worth taking seriously.