1) Floyd and Chauvin had both worked as security at the nightclub in the Odd Fellows Building on 27th Ave. S. and Lake St.
2) Floyd was far more popular and effective at the job.
3) Chauvin was not only working that job—he was also busy in his side hustle of distributing lucrative side jobs to other cops.
4) Chauvin’s ability to parcel out side jobs made it very difficult for other cops to discipline him, since cops above him in the department were also dependent on him for getting those side jobs.
5) Did anyone ever ask the owners of the nightclub whether they’d discussed using George Floyd and his connections instead of cops for their security?
]6) The video of Chauvin and Floyd standing next to each other before the takedown made it clear that Chauvin was physically fearful of Floyd and disliked him. How much of what followed was actually personal?
7) Was there a preference by the personal injury lawyers to avoid having the above issues raised because the damages claim against the City of Minneapolis would be stronger without them? If Chauvin had been shown to have gone off on a personal tangent rather than just acting as a cop, the City wouldn’t have been so liable for so much.
I have a bit of a personal interest in all this because my first office was across the street from the Odd Fellows Building, upstairs over the old Fanny Farmer Candy Store (3002 27th Ave. S.), which is still standing.
Dave Porter, lawyer
