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> in much of Europe, you'd get less than that for murder

Citation needed.



Colloquially Americans like to call "murder" any time someone kills someone else.

In Germany the translation of murder has VERY specific legal requirements, like detailed planning beforhand, and evil action (cannibalism, sexual intent, terrorism, type stuff). You pretty much have to be a stereotypical serial killer or terrorist in Germany to commit the legal definition of murder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_in_German_law#Penalties

In the USA, colloquially speaking, not legally speaking, George Floyd was murdered. But in Germany what happened would seem to meet the equivalent of what Americans would call involuntary manslaughter. Clearly, the cops killed that dude while trying to do something vaguely reminiscent of their job, but also clearly, they did not stalk him with evil intent with an intentional plan for a long time and then cannibalize or sexually molest his body as would be required by the legal definition in Germany. Probably.

Historically, in Germany, involuntary manslaughter such as two idiot soldiers who don't know each other getting into a drunken bar fight over nothing while one had an undiagnosed brain anuresm that burst during or shortly after the fight will only get like three year sentence and who knows how early of a release. In America that event would colloquially be called "murder", because one person killed another person, but not so much from a strictly legal perspective in Germany.


> In the USA, colloquially speaking, not legally speaking, George Floyd was murdered.

It occurred in Minnesota, which is one of the handful of states with "third-degree murder", which this does appear to fall under.

One of the things that separates third-degree murder from manslaughter is the use of inherently dangerous acts, such as kneeling on his neck.


As a fellow European, I can confirm. If you don’t take our word for it then feel free to look it up. We follow cases in our home countries and are used to what sort of sentences get passed.




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