Floyd. What Derek Chauvin does not have a right to is a free pass because he wore a badge. A trial should focus on the actions of Derek Chauvin, not hunt desperately for anything to excuse his actions. Police officer is a difficult and stressful job. It carries with it a great weight and an awesome responsibility. That responsibility is the judicious employment of lethal weapons in order to "protect and serve". That is what the badge signifies. Its a symbol of a person that can be trusted to assist and protect the community, and exercise respect for the tools of the office. When police officers go outside of that duty and clearly demonstrate an inability to handle that responsibility, they shouldn't get a pass. At that point, they don't deserve the badge or the special legal protections afforded to it. No one can truly respect, uphold, and protect the law if they live above it. We have cultivated a society where police officers are now above the law, and pay no consequences for their actions no matter how abhorrent. Police officers were afforded a benefit of the doubt in lethal situations specifically because we as a society expect them to employ lethal and extreme means only when absolutely necessary. When the standard for the employment of those tools becomes less than necessity, then none of us are any safer than the whims of any police officer who happens to show up.