[Crossposted from American Renaissance.]

Earlier, May 30, 2020: Even Right Abandoning Accused Minneapolis Cop—But They Shouldn't

The jury has found Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts. It took fewer than 24 hours to reach a unanimous decision. I have argued all along that an acquittal was impossible, no matter what the evidence showed. No jury, anywhere in the United States, could have found Mr. Chauvin innocent after nearly a year of riots.

I had some hope that the jury might acquit on one or two of the more serious charges, but the guilty verdict was announced first on the most serious of the three, so the other two verdicts were inevitable. Under Minnesota law, Mr. Chauvin will be sentenced under only the most serious charge. It carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, but according to state guidelines, a first offence is supposed to get 12-1/2 years. Judge Peter Cahill said he would pass sentence eight weeks from now.

As the verdicts were read, the camera closed in on Mr. Chauvin for the first time since the trial began. He was wearing a mask, but appeared to show no emotion. He was led from the courtroom in handcuffs and will remain in custody.

Former Minneapolis Officer Derek Chauvin convicted of murder and manslaughter charges in the death of George Floyd.

Floyd’s death stirred worldwide protests against racism after video showed Chauvin pinning Floyd to the ground with his knee on his neck.https://t.co/GQ1mrcMFHZ

— The Associated Press (@AP) April 20, 2021

Crowds had gathered in various places in Minneapolis to wait for the verdict. They wept, rejoiced, and fell into each other’s arms.

There are solid grounds to appeal the verdict. From the start, Mr. Chauvin’s lawyer, Eric Nelson, argued that it would be impossible to get a fair trial in Minneapolis because of the rioting and massive publicity. The judged refused to move the trial. Mr. Nelson will probably argue that there was prosecutorial misconduct. In closing arguments, the prosecution said that the defense’s arguments were “nonsense,” that Mr. Nelson was “shading the truth,” “misrepresenting facts,” putting words in witnesses’ mouths, and “creating Halloween stories.” Judge Cahill ruled that he had sufficiently admonished the prosecution for this.

The federal government can’t house and care for the horde of unaccompanied illegal-alien minors at the border, so President Biden has a solution: Send them to Red States [Biden administration considers flying migrants to states near the Canadian border for processing, by Nick Miroff, The Washington Post, March 20, 2021]. But some Republican governors are saying no. Their resistance to this illegal-alien dumping shows that the GOP/GAP is moving in the right direction. But much more must be done— above all opposing legal immigration—to prove Republicans are the America First party and stop the Great Replacement.

States that are resisting illegal-alien resettlement at this writing: Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, and South Dakota.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, no fire breathing conservative, fired the opening salvo at Biden. “This is not our problem,” Reynolds told a local radio show:

“This is the president’s problem. He’s the one that has opened the border, and he needs to be responsible for this and he needs to stop it.”

[Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Sets The Bar For Republicans To Refuse To Enable Biden’s Border Crisis, by Gabe Kaminsky, The Federalist, April 13, 2021]

Montana is squarely against resettlement, too. Attorney General Austin Knudsen told Fox News his state hasn’t the resources to care for the illegals, while Gov. Greg Gianforte has threatened to sue the Biden administration [Montana governor threatens legal action if Biden administration flies migrants from southern border, by Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, March 23, 2021].

Earlier: Patrick J. Buchanan: Biden Bids Farewell To A “Forever War”

When President Joe Biden announced he would withdraw all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of 9/11, GOP hawks like Sens. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham responded predictably.

"Grave mistake," muttered McConnell.

"Insane," said Graham, "dumber than dirt and... dangerous."

Of more interest were the responses of conservative Republicans who commended the president. Among them were Sens. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a group that contains several potential candidates for the GOP nomination in 2024.