James Mattis, the high profile general who once served in Donald Trump's Cabinet as his secretary of defence, has condemned the President's response to the mass protests across the US.
In a scathing statement to The Atlantic, Gen Mattis said he was “angry and appalled”.
“The words ‘Equal Justice Under Law’ are carved in the pediment of the United States Supreme Court. This is precisely what protesters are rightly demanding,” he said.
“We must not be distracted by a small number of lawbreakers. The protests are defined by tens of thousands of people of conscience who are insisting that we live up to our values.”
Gen Mattis appears to have been riled up by the President’s threat to use the military to crack down on rioters, and by the authorities’ controversial use of force to clear a path for Mr Trump’s photo op at a church near the White House two days ago.
“When I joined the military some 50 years ago, I swore an oath to support and defend the Constitution. Never did I dream that troops taking that same oath would be ordered under any circumstances to violate the Constitutional rights of their fellow citizens – much less to provide a bizarre photo op for the elected commander-in-chief, with military leadership standing alongside,” Gen Mattis said.
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people. Does not even pretend to try. Instead he tries to divide us.
“We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.”
He said Mr Trump had “made a mockery” of the Constitution.
His statement came shortly after the news that all four police officers involved in Mr Floyd’s death had been charged, and that the officer at the centre of the case would face an upgraded charge of second-degree murder
Full George Floyd autopsy released
The medical examiner's office in Minnesota has released its full, 20-page autopsy report on George Floyd's death.
His official cause of death is listed as "cardiopulmonary arrest complicating law enforcement subdual, restrain, and neck compression", which in plain english of course means the knee pressing into his neck resulted in cardiac arrest.
The examiner found Mr Floyd had a number of injuries, including "cutaneous blunt force injuries" on his forehead, face and upper lip, "mucosal injuries" inside his lips, "blunt force injuries" on his shoulders, hands, elbows and legs and "patterned contusions of the wrists", which were caused by handcuffs.
He suffered from three underlying conditions – severe "arteriosclerotic heart disease", "hypertensive heart disease" and an "incidental" tumour on the left side of his pelvis.
Mr Floyd had also contracted the coronavirus at some point. A nasal swab taken after his death tested positive for the disease, but he appears to have contracted it almost two months earlier.
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