“Historical”, but insufficient: opinions were divided Friday on the conviction of police officer Derek Chauvin to 22 and a half years in prison for the murder of George Floyd. Floyd family attorney Ben Crump hailed a “historic” decision, which “takes the Floyd family and our nation one step closer to reconciliation by allowing them to turn the page and appointing those responsible. “. At the White House, Democratic President Joe Biden ruled the verdict “fair”.
Derek Chauvin faced up to 40 years in prison for killing George Floyd on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, keeping his knee on his neck for nearly ten minutes.
While claiming that it was “the heaviest sentence ever given” to a police officer in Minnesota, civil rights figure Reverend Al Sharpton said it was not ” of justice ”. “Justice would have been that George Floyd was alive” and that there had been “sentences like this before”, he added.
” Continue the fight “
The powerful civil rights organization ACLU has said that this “rare moment when the police face the consequences of the murders they have committed does not represent justice.” “Justice is not about a single sentence or a single verdict. “
For their part, several members of George Floyd’s family, like his brother Terrence, have expressed their desire to “continue the fight”. His nephew Brandon Williams said he “got justice, but not enough”.
Citing other victims of police violence, Philonise Floyd, another brother of George Floyd, called on the public to “stand up and fight”. For Billy Brownlee, 55, an African-American from Minneapolis, “Derek Chauvin’s conviction means nothing, because my biggest worry is always to be stopped by the police when I get in my car and drive home.”