I remember in 1992, when four white Los Angeles police officers were found not guilty of violently beating a black man, Rodney King, despite overwhelming video documentation of the police beating King. Twenty-eight years later, we have the murder of #GeorgeFloyd in Minneapolis...

It's important for people to remember that the trial of the four white Los Angeles police officers was moved from Los Angeles County to Simi Valley in Ventura Country. The trial was moved because the defense argued the police officers couldn’t get a fair trial in Los Angeles.

Moving the trial from Los Angeles County to Simi Valley fundamentally changed the racial composition of the jury pool. The four police officers were found not guilty by a jury of 10 white people, one Latino and one Asian. There were no black people on the jury.

It would be devastating not to have the criminal trials in Hennepin Country for anyone charged in the death of #GeorgeFloyd. Imagine the pain if the trials were moved to a neighboring county, as was done in the Rodney King trial.

It is incumbent upon elected officials such as @GovTimWalz, @LtGovFlanagan, @AGEllison @Jacob_Frey, and @MayorCarter, to ensure their comments about individuals involved in the death of #GeorgeFloyd don’t complicate the criminal prosecution.

The legal team assembled to defend the people involved in the death of #GeorgeFloyd will document the comments made by elected officials before the trials. It would be tragic if a premature public comment complicated the prosecution for those responsible in the death of Floyd.