Pointless news conference, except Freeman injects some doubt

A tardy press conference that featured U.S. Attorney Erica H. MacDonald and Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman Thursday featured no news.

Except when Freeman, the six-term county attorney, gave a baffling answer that he later walked back about why his office has not leveled charges yet against police officers even though George Floyd was pinned to the ground by his neck by a Minneapolis Police officer for more than 7 minutes — on video.

“That video is graphic and horrific and terrible and no person should do that. But my job in the end is to prove he violated a criminal statute. And there is other evidence that does not support a criminal charge,” Freeman said. “We need to wade through all of that evidence and come to a meaningful decision and we are doing that to the best of our ability.”

His response was met with swift backlash as some wondered if the comment would heighten tensions at protests Thursday evening. Shortly after the press conference ended, Fox 9 reporter Courtney Godfrey reported that Freeman’s office clarified the comment.

“They say what Freeman meant with this statement is that all evidence must be reviewed to build a strong case, as they’ve learned from other cases that charging quickly can backfire,” Godfrey wrote in a Tweet.