Tucker Carlson Lost It After Derek Chauvin Was Found Guilty

As most of the nation breathed a collective sigh of relief that ex-Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd Tuesday, Fox News host Tucker Carlson wore his disappointment on his sleeve.

During his Tuesday night broadcast, Carlson claimed that Chauvin was convicted after less than two full days of deliberation because the jurors felt they were in danger, called the Floyd protests an “attack on civilization,” and then abruptly ended an interview with a former New York City corrections official who suggested Chauvin’s killing of Floyd was “excessive.” 

Carlson kicked off his show with a claim that the jurors in the trial “came to a unanimous and unequivocal verdict this afternoon: ‘Please don’t hurt us.’” 

"The jurors spoke for many in this country, everyone understood perfectly well the consequences of an acquittal in this case,” Carlson said. “After a year of burning and looting and murder by BLM, that was never in doubt."

Carlson then dished up his usual dystopian portrait of America’s cities. “No mob has the right to destroy our cities. No politician or media figure has the right to intimidate a jury,” he said. “And no political party has the right to impose a different standard of justice on its own supporters.”

He added: “Those things are all unacceptable in America. All of them are happening now. If they continue to happen, decent and productive people will leave. The country as we know it will be over. So we must stop this current insanity. It’s an attack on civilization.”

Over the course of the show, Carlson brought on a variety of right-wingers popular with his audience to agree with him, including Glenn Beck and Candace Owens. “Here you have to consider a murder case through the lens of politics. When you get to that point, haven’t you already given up civilization?” Carlson asked Owens in his usual stoic and drama-free manner. 

Owens called the verdict “mob justice” and blamed the media and Democrats for it. 

“[The verdict] now means the Democrats can get whatever they want because they can create a narrative and treat people like pawns and get them to say, “If we don’t get what we want, we will riot, we will loot, we will send these people out like soldiers to destroy your neighborhoods.’” 

“This was not a fair trial,” Owens added. “No person can say this was a fair trial."

One guest whose opinions Carlson didn’t have time for was Ed Gavin, a former deputy sheriff in New York City and official with the city’s Department of Corrections. Gavin called Chauvin’s murder of Floyd “pure savagery” and called for more medical training for cops. 

“We have to change the way we deal with people,” Gavin said. “I’ve used force on literally almost 500 people in my 21-year career... I’ve never had anybody go unconscious. That was clearly excessive unjustified use of force. I think the verdict was just.”

“In my opinion, what we need to do…” Gavin continued, before Carlson cut him off and asked: “How about enforcing the law. Do we need to do that?”

Gavin tried to continue—apparently he missed the memo that the purpose of Carlson’s show is to push the narrative that America is falling apart. 

"The guy who did it looks like he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison. I'm kind of more worried about the rest of the country, which, thanks to police inaction, in case you haven't noticed, is like, boarded up," Carlson said, before shrieking in faux-laughter. 

Gavin tried to interject during Carlson’s rant, but the host cut him off and ended the interview. 

“Nope, done,” Carlson said.