Just over a year ago George Floyd was murdered by excessive police brutality on May 25th, 2020. Derek Chauvin was captured on film kneeling on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes during his arrest, despite his urgent last words ‘I can’t breathe’. Floyd died in police custody that night from a sudden heart rhythm disturbance which was linked to the lack of oxygen from the way he was pinned to the ground by Chauvin.
The video evidence of Floyd's arrest sparked Black Lives Matter protests starting in America and spreading worldwide over the summer of 2020. These protests fought to expose institutional racism and corruption within the American police force, highlighting how the system actively (either subconsciously or consciously) sets black Americans, specifically African-Americans, at a huge disadvantage in regards to feeling protected by the police force and its medical counterparts. The importance of the Black Lives Matter movement cannot be stressed enough, despite the finishing of the initial wave of protests, it is vital to remember that the movement does not end there, it must continue within each one of us every day until significant change is enacted.
The trial of Derek Chauvin is one of the most reported trials in recent years, the former police officer finally being found guilty of all three charges against him on April 20th 2021. The jury took only one day to deliberate his guilty verdict of second degree murder, third degree murder and manslaughter. Chauvin will remain in jail until he has been sentenced and could be facing over 40 years in prison.
Although in Biden's phone call to Floyd's family he described how "now there is some justice", Chauvin's sentence is described by Keith Ellison, the Minnesota attorney-general who led the prosecution, as "accountability, which is the first step towards justice.”[1]
'People celebrate outside the Hennepin County Government Center in Minneapolis as the verdict was announced in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin on Tuesday © Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images'
Chauvin's guilty verdict has potential to be the start of a larger institutional dismantling of the police force in America, however there is still a danger that the 'success' in this case will be used to bring back the dwindling support of the police force and ignore the fundamental problems of racism and corruption within the institution.
A wave of online criticism has crashed onto social media over the last few days highlighting this problem, one account stated:
'Chauvin is being used to rehabilitate what is currently a tainted police image. What does this tell us?
It tells is that the cops understand, better than some of us do, that mainstream America will see his incarceration as justice & their faith in policing will be restored.'
[Instagram - @ClaudiaStellar]
It is clear that the feeling of change felt in the summer has the potential to either enact meaningful change, or to revert back to a stance of ignorance of the deep problems within the American police force. The importance of individuals is more important than ever, we must continue to say George Floyd's, and all those who have been victims of police brutality, name in protest against an outdated system that requires huge changes and reforms to ensure it fulfills its role: to protect all American citizens.
Floyd is only one name of many black Americans who have been subjected to unprovoked police brutality. Below is an article that shows how families of other victims such as: Breonna Taylor, Christopher Burns, Tamir Rice and Stephon Clark, have responded to Chauvin’s guilty sentence. Although there is hope for a new, reformed police force in America it is clear that there is still a long way to go:
Read more about the trial and verdict here: