In my last episode with John McWhorter, we discussed the new documentary The Fall of Minneapolis, which presents a damning account of the media narrative surrounding the death of George Floyd. Understandably, that conversation caused some controversy. It is our most popular episode yet, with well over a million views on YouTube. Clearly, there’s more to be said about the documentary, so we invited the filmmakers Liz Collin and JC Chaix on the show.
In this episode, John and I ask Liz and JC some questions that occurred to us and some we drew from the comments on our last episode. They clear up some basic facts. No, none of the body cam footage in the doc was AI-manipulated. And yes, that footage was previously available for those who made the effort to search for it. But as I think the conversation makes clear, one of the impulses behind the doc was to combat what Liz and JC (and many, many others) saw as a bogus narrative about George Floyd’s death and the trial that followed. Perhaps Liz and JC won’t convince you that Derek Chauvin isn’t to blame for Floyd’s death. But I don’t think any fair-minded viewer can come away from the documentary and this conversation without thinking there is more to the story than we were initially told.
Edit: When my team initially uploaded this video, it was age restricted by YouTube. We made the decision to remove the graphic content that YouTube found inappropriate for young viewers and reupload the video, which I’ve embedded above. (The conversation itself remains unaltered.) However, I want to make sure the original version of the video, with all of the footage and imagery I had originally intended to include, is still available, so I posted it to Substack. You can watch it here.
This post was released on Monday to paying subscribers and is now unlocked. To receive early access to TGS episodes, an ad-free podcast feed, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below.
Sign Up for City Journal’s Newsletter
City Journal provides rigorous analysis that allows you to reach your own conclusions, rather than rehashing ideologically “safe” talking points. Explore it for yourselves and sign up for their free newsletter today.
0:00 A message from Glenn
1:30 How Liz and JC came to collaborate on their doc, The Fall of Minneapolis
5:48 JC: No, the footage in the doc is not AI-manipulated
7:38 How much of the body cam footage is previously unseen?
9:48 Who lied about George Floyd, what did they lie about, and why?
15:00 The relevance of Floyd’s behavior during the incident
19:00 JC: Minneapolis Chief of Police Arradondo perjured himself
24:00 Minnesota DA Keith Ellison’s email to Glenn
25:41 The expert testimony from Dr. Martin Tobin on Floyd’s cause of death
27:28 Adjudicating disputes about the cause of death
35:52 Were racial justice tropes part of the Floyd incident?
39:36 Why Liz and JC think Derek Chauvin didn’t get a fair trial
42:44 Why JC didn’t include the entire viral video of Floyd in the doc
45:46 What Chauvin told JC about the incident
48:56 Humanizing the Minnesota police
51:57 The aftermath of the Minneapolis riots
56:48 The lawsuits that followed the Floyd family’s settlement
57:50 The drugs that “complicated” Floyd’s restraint
Recorded December 16, 2023.
Links and Readings
Glenn and John’s episode about The Fall of Minneapolis
Liz and JC’s documentary, The Fall of Minneapolis
Liz’s book, They're Lying: The Media, The Left, and The Death of George Floyd
John McWhorter, Liz Collin & JC Chaix – Filmmakers Reveal the Truth about George Floyd