Justice

Just a quick post tonight in response to the news of the verdict last night.

I’m relieved the verdict came out the way it did. From all appearances, and I’m not an expert in law nor did I follow every detail of the case, but the video (well, I actually didn’t see the video but read about some elements of it) and some testimony I did read about strongly suggest that death was due to the police officer kneeling on George Floyd’s neck for nine minutes and some seconds. The counterpoint from the defense, such as the exhaust pipe being a potential cause of death, were not convincing.

It seems like the jury also found the defense unconvincing.

I was worried when I read that major cities throughout the US were preparing protests that might arise out of the jury verdict (such as the jury not finding Derek Chauvin guilty) because I felt like the US were at tenterhooks and could burn with frustration, agony, and despair after the horrid year last year. What a relief the verdict came out the way it did.

So I want to thank the jury for making what I think was the right decision. Again, I’m no expert in this case but it sure seemed like the police officer was guilty, guilty, guilty of excessive force and caused George’s death which led to protests around the world.

However, the guilty verdict is only a small, small, small step towards justice. We still have a long way to go to change our viewpoints on how treat people and to change the inequality that the current system produces. But let’s just enjoy the small victory today.