Finally, at long last, accountability has come to that thick, albeit thin blue line.
It’s difficult to be happy about this verdict, because the whole thing is just so sad, was so cruel, so unnecessary. What I am is relieved that a murder by cop, as egregious as this one, didn’t turn out to be yet another miscarriage of justice.
Will this verdict bring protect, serve, respect in law enforcement dealings with the Black community, rather than the usual intimidate and murder that’s been going on for as long as I’ve been on this earth?
One has only to look at the atrocities that have been going on, while the trial was in progress, to know the answer to that … it’s been Cop 101, business as usual.
This verdict brings about relief but, for me, hope of change died a long time ago.
I, too, am not happy about the verdict. One man is going to prison and George Floyd is dead. Justice was served, but just think how this would have turned out of Chauvin had told George Floyd that Cup Foods thought he was trying to pass a counterfeit $20 and they no longer want him in their store. Floyd would have gone his way, Chauvin would have gone his.
ReplyDeleteI feel like Maxine Waters, 'not happy but relieved.'
My wish for Chauvin is, while sitting in his cell for what I hope will be years to come (preferably alone, in a one-person cell, on death row), those are the thoughts that replay over and over in his head ... “why didn’t I just tell him they don’t want you in their store again”. I imagine the other officers can now not use as a defense “I was only taking orders” (where have we heard that one before?) and will plead out, rather than put the world through yet another trial, then another, and another. Now that there is a measure of enlightenment in the justice system, too bad we can’t go back and give lady justice another go at the officers who tried to beat Rodney King to death, et al.
DeleteI want this pig in jail, the key thrown away, and that no one ever mentions his ugly name again.
ReplyDeleteI'm now reading about what was not allowed to be presented during the trial, because "too prejudicial", that being there were other incidents of Chauvin trying to kill ─ neck chokes, blocking airways, trying to drown by grinding head in pocket of water. Complaints were made and ignored. So now I know WHY he didn’t just tell Floyd to leave the store, why he chose instead to kneel to death. It’s because that’s what Chauvin does. Only difference this time was his actions were not so easily walked away by falsifying an arrest report, or dismissed by those in the system who chose to ignore the complaints, because the entire world saw it. So not just see him in jail, but under it.
DeleteJustice....this time! But like Maxine said, I too am not happy. but relived
ReplyDeleteI hope we wake up and learn.
I have a feeling Chauvin won't be around long. I wouldn't be surprised if he's killed in jail, if he's not isolated. And had he got off, where would be have gone? He'd been killed too. Either way, he's a dead man I believe.
He's probably in shock that he did not get off, picked up his pension, disappeared into a quiet life ─ like all the other murder and attempted murder cops have. Now that it’s looking like a new dawn for law enforcement, reality has most likely kicked in and, like you say, he won’t be around long, dead man walking. Only, I'm thinking he'll probably off himself.
DeleteI stayed up to listen to the verdict- it was the right one. Hard to explain how I felt when I heard he was found guilty- relief he's off he streets, sorrow that a man lost his life so unnecessarily, hope that something will change for the better, annoyance that sentencing takes so long and then...we hear A13 year old girl has been shot by police- my heart weeps.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read, it was a foster care teen, age 16 or 17, supposedly swinging a knife. One would think, if they absolutely had to shoot, it wasn't necessary to shoot to kill. And yes, now reading about all the other stuff Chauvin got away with, it's good to know he's finally off the streets. If the thin blue line hadn't been so into covering up for and protecting bad cops, he'd have been off the streets sooner and George Floyd would still be alive. There should be some measure of accountability for those that failed to follow up on previous complaints.
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