Guilty on All Counts: A Moment of Relief
Guilty on All Counts: A Moment of Relief
Thinking behind the tweets
We are in the second month of this effort to build a community committed to democracy and justice. My goal? Try to make sense of things as clearly as possible. Support democracy and American ideals. Pursue the truth. Hold the powerful accountable. Improve society. If you value the writing and this mission, I hope you’ll become a paid subscriber.
I’ve been increasingly worried in recent weeks about what a not guilty verdict would bring, not just in the streets of Minneapolis or around the country, but in the beliefs of Americans who yearn for justice. America could explode, and understandably so. The widespread protests last summer underscored how many Americans have had enough of police officers who feel entitled to engage in abuse and even murder without consequences.
When the verdict on all three counts was announced, my first thought was about justice being served. As the ACLU noted on Twitter, this is the first time in Minnesota state history that “a white police officer has been held accountable for killing a Black man.”
In this moment, it felt that we could concretely see the arc of history bending toward justice. This after the blue wall was broken and key Minneapolis officers, including the Chief of Police, testified against one of their own. This after a jury comprised of Blacks and whites and multi-racial Americans quickly returned a verdict of guilty on three charges: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter.
But this was not a moment to celebrate. Because George Floyd would never again kiss his girlfriend, hug his family or take another breath. Because his murder means justice can never be fully realized. Because, as President Biden noted after the verdict, this remains a “much too rare” step to deliver “basic accountability.”
It was over very fast. But there was this moment, a first of its kind in Minnesota, when we could see that the now-convicted murderer would be held accountable for his crimes.
Without the courage of Darnella Frazier, it’s hard to see how we would have reached this day. Her willingness to confront the horror before her eyes, her cellphone raised, made it possible for the world to witness Derek Chauvin grind his knee into George Floyd’s neck, minute after minute after minute.
Darnella Frazier. Let’s remember her name. Let’s remember her powerful words of testimony before the court: “It’s been nights I stayed up apologizing and apologizing to George Floyd for not doing more and not physically interacting and not saving his life. But it’s like, it’s not what I should have done, it’s what he [Chauvin] should have done.” Let’s hope this now 18-year-old young woman can begin to heal from the trauma of that terrible day.
We must also keep in mind that we are only at the beginning—that this verdict only illuminates the potential for our country to confront the failure of policy and practice, the necessity of police reform, and the reality of an entrenched system that has given license to criminal acts by uniformed individuals who should be protecting everyone. “We must not turn away. We cannot turn away,” Biden said.
We also should hope that this court verdict strengthens our collective capacity to trust what our eyes and ears tell us, no matter how much those in power may exploit their positions to deny us the tools to see and know. As I asserted in my earlier post, “Trusting What Your Eyes and Ears Tell You,” about this murder trial and the degradations of the last four years, “there are terrible, criminal, no-good people who will do everything they can to convince you not to believe what you see and hear—to ignore what they are doing.” We are capable of overcoming them.
We are not at the end of the effort to serve justice. We are at the beginning. Think of Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo and so many others. Think of the three other police officers who stood by while Derek Chauvin committed murder.
But for this day, we should take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief, envision a bend in the arc, and be hopeful for better days ahead
I am glad to see that you have noted the inestimable impact of the video shot by 17-year old Darnella Frazier and the testimony of the other first hand witnesses. Reviewing the initial press release from the Minnesota State Police public information officer on May 26 about this incident manifestly exposes the deception which can be promulgated and eventually accepted as truth in instances such as this. (You can read the release here: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/man-dies-after-medical-incident-during-police-interaction-how-police-originally-described-george-floyd-s-death/ar-BB1fRUO1) Sure, everybody wants to present themselves in the best possible light, but it is an indictment of law enforcement that such a misleading summation of the events of that evening was, first of all immorally composed, then later released as a "nothing to see here". Thanks to this citizen involvement and documentation the truth emerged, appropriate steps were taken and our country is the better for it.
There were so many things that fell into place in order to get the justice Mr. Floyd needed. But, the most significant was the video from the courageous 17 year old. Her testimony stating that she feels like she should have done more. She should have saved him, but she realizes the only one that could save him was the cop who was murdering him. She is a child in tremendous pain. But what she did do, was the most consequential. We must all be Darnella Frazier. We must all press REC when we see anyone in an inappropriate situation with police officers. We should record all the good things that cops do, as well, & post them on social media.
I am proud of the verdict. I believe this is a wake up call. As most Americans support Biden, the Covid stimulus package, vaccines & voting rights for all Americans, I think that the world discovered that America is beginning to believe that Black Lives Matter. Much work to do. Over 30 states are pushing stricter voting regs & we must stop this. But this verdict was a good start. We must build a larger coalition of Dems, Ind, former Reps, people of all beliefs, ages, colors, genders, etc. We must see ourselves, with all our differences as one huge team, allies, family, whatever, & we will work together to defend democracy for everyone & squash racism of any type. We are all Black Lives Matter.