In an effort to highlight his client’s impeccable character, the defense attorney representing Derek Chauvin praised the former police officer Thursday for exercising great restraint by not killing bystanders. “As the video evidence shows, there were several bystanders standing only a few feet away during the time of George Floyd’s arrest, and yet Mr. Chauvin didn’t attempt to shoot or strangle a single one,” said attorney Eric Nelson, who commended Chauvin for remaining calm and composed while responding to the call regarding a counterfeit bill by letting the half-dozen witnesses watching from the curb go physically unscathed. “Mr. Chauvin was under a staggering amount of stress at the time, and the fact that not everybody was gunned down in a bloodbath is just proof of his exceptional professionalism. It is clear Derek Chauvin is a highly self-disciplined man, as any average police officer would have shot the bystanders in the back the moment they turned away.”At press time, Nelson praised Chauvin’s self-control, noting that the officer had refrained from leaping from his seat to choke out the members of the jury.
