Fall of Minneapolis director debunks critics, raises new questions 4 years after George Floyd

In an interview with Liz Collin, director Dr. JC Chaix debunks the self-proclaimed "debunkers" of "The Fall of Minneapolis" documentary.

The Fall of Minneapolis
Director Dr. JC Chaix on the set of the "The Fall of Minneapolis" with Liz Collin. (Alpha News)

In the aftermath of the death of George Floyd — and the rioting that destroyed Minneapolis — many so-called political leaders declared that we’d be on “the right side of history.”

Despite the claims of being on “the right side of history,” a lot seems to have gone wrong in the years since the death of George Floyd, according to Dr. JC Chaix — a writer, editor, educator, and the director of The Fall of Minneapolis documentary (presented by Alpha News).

The month of May 2024 marked even more violence in Minneapolis and beyond. And while politicians and corporate media were touting “George Floyd Remembrance Day” — and reminding us yet again about the supposed “systemic racism in policing” — Minneapolis police officer Jamal Mitchell was executed in the street.

Just days before, Liz Collin interviewed Dr. JC Chaix and asked if public sentiment surrounding Floyd’s death has changed in the past four years.

Dr. Chaix remarked that it’s clear people aren’t falling for the lies and false narratives anymore. He also pointed out how “those who are desperately still clinging to these narratives clearly seem outnumbered these days.”

Debunking the so-called ‘debunkers’

He also explained that, as expected, the controversial documentary has faced criticism. But as for those who claim to have “debunked” the documentary, Dr. Chaix said they haven’t even come close.

“The documentary … was deliberately crafted to avoid telling people what to think. Instead, the point was to present evidence so people can think for themselves … we presented evidence that was hiding in plain sight. A lot of it had been censored or ignored up until that point,” Dr. Chaix said.

The autopsy and FBI involvement

Some critics and self-proclaimed “debunkers” have dismissed the involvement of the FBI in a meeting with Hennepin County Medical Examiner Dr. Andrew Baker the day after Floyd’s death.

Memo from meeting with FBI agents and Dr. Baker.
Memo from meeting with prosecutors, FBI agents, and Dr. Baker; excerpt from the documentary “The Fall of Minneapolis.”

Dr. Chaix explained, “When Dr. Baker first met with prosecutors, special agents from the Minnesota BCA and the FBI were also there. This isn’t a conspiracy theory. This is a fact. The documentary clearly shows a memo from that meeting with the names of the special agents from the BCA and the FBI. It’s empirical evidence.”

Chaix also points out how there are plenty of dots to connect and people should think for themselves. “That’s why the documentary has a slower pace to give people time to think,” he added.

Amy Sweasy's testimony about George Floyd autopsy.
Sworn testimony from Amy Sweasy: Dr. Baker’s concerns about the George Floyd autopsy. Excerpt from the documentary, “The Fall of Minneapolis” presented by Alpha News.

“Absolutely, people should question and think about the difference in what Dr. Baker initially said to Amy Sweasy, what he wrote about, or in this case, didn’t write in the autopsy report, and what he said on the witness stand — and how these things don’t really bear any consistency. That’s a story in itself, and quite frankly, deserves to be a whole other documentary,” Chaix said.

‘Partisan propaganda’

Critics claim the documentary is one-sided and lacks objectivity. Attorney General Keith Ellison said he had not seen the documentary, but dismissed it as “partisan propaganda.”

Keith Ellison with Antifa Book
Keith Ellison holding “ANTIFA: The Anti-Fascist Handbook”; excerpt from Liz Collin’s interview with Dr. JC Chaix.

Chaix questioned Ellison’s perspective: “It’s a bit too convenient and a bit too presumptuous to assume that the entire documentary neatly fits into some narrow worldview focused solely on politics and partisanship. It’s not the ‘How George Floyd Died’ documentary or ‘The Derek Chauvin’ documentary. It’s bigger than that and it involves more than just a few critical aspects. Overall, I think the documentary can be summed up in the last two lines. If we don’t stand for the truth, we’ll fall for the lies. That’s the key premise and the purpose of it.”

Stubborn facts remain: George Floyd said ‘I can’t breathe’ inside the police car

Chaix also pointed out that despite some criticism, the facts nevertheless remain.

“Critical thinking is supposed to be based on facts, empirical evidence, and observations. I would defy Ellison, Walz, Frey or any of the debunkers to actually and specifically explain, why did George Floyd say, ‘I can’t choke, I can’t breathe’ before he was taken out of the police car? It was not because a police officer was kneeling on his neck. That’s abundantly obvious. They were barely even touching him. He was in the back of the police car. I’d love to hear them specifically and deliberately reckon this fact.”

Facts were the main focus, but Floyd apparently dropped ‘a baggie’

Dr. Chaix also pointed out how facts were the key focus of The Fall of Minneapolis documentary — and so was avoiding speculation and conjecture. He explained during the interview how surveillance video clearly shows Floyd dropping a small plastic baggie. But since it wasn’t recovered from the scene or tested, Dr. Chaix explained it wasn’t highlighted in the documentary to avoid conjecture and speculation — and keep the focus on the facts.

Surveillance video of the arrest of George Floyd, May 25, 2020.
Surveillance video of the arrest of George Floyd, May 25, 2020.
The ignorance of the MRT and lies of omission

In discussing another key aspect of The Fall of Minneapolis, Dr. Chaix said, “Another fact that I would defy anyone to empirically debunk, was why did Officer Lane clearly refer to the MRT, the Maximal Restraint Technique, as seen in the bodycam videos, as we have shown in the documentary? Yet somehow, Chief Arradondo and Inspector Blackwell had no idea about it. They couldn’t recognize it. Meanwhile, every officer was trained to use that very technique. How did four officers automatically know what to do?

“I’d also defy them to explain how Officer Lane called for an ambulance 36 seconds after George Floyd was on the ground, and how Officer Thao called for EMS code three, lights and sirens, about a minute later. I’d love to hear Ellison, or anyone else, specifically explain how these obvious, life-saving measures justify the charges of murder and aiding and abetting murder. Whenever our so-called leaders blatantly ignore facts like that, yet still tell people what to think, we should be outraged, and justifiably so,” he added.

A the end of the interview, Dr. Chaix explained how he believes that the facts shown in The Fall of Minneapolis along with the convictions of the officers serve as a testament to everything that is wrong in America right now. “From letting emotions run wild and overrule facts, from rushing to judgment to practically everything we see on social media, to the partisan lawfare, to the lack of skepticism, and even worse, to letting media corporations serve sock puppet politicians — instead of ‘We the People,’ which is what they should be doing,” Chaix concluded.

 

Liz Collin

Liz Collin has been a truth-teller for 20 years as a multi-Emmy-Award-winning reporter and anchor. Liz is a Worthington, Minnesota native who lives in the suburbs with her husband, son and loyal lab.