Anxious city on a knife edge over historic case
A BLACK man dying in police custody is sadly nothing new in America.
George Floyd’s death though had one big difference – it was seen by the world.
The arrest was bravely captured on a phone by a 17-year-old girl and published to Facebook.the video was shared around the globe and a wave of outrage followed.
Ten months on and the eyes of the world are once again on Minneapolis for the trial of ex-officer Derek Chauvin, who was filmed with his knee apparently on George Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.
The jury selection over, in the coming weeks it will be their role to decide if what happened last May was murder, if Chauvin intended to kill George Floyd.
For many, this trial is about more than one life. It represents a potential barometer for change in a country where police officers are rarely penalised for the deaths of citizens in custody. No white police officer has ever been convicted for the death of a black person in the state of
Minnesota and there’s a tense atmosphere in Minneapolis ahead of the trial.
“This city will burn,” one person told me when I asked what would happen if they don’t get a guilty verdict.the city is still recovering from unrest last summer that saw law enforcement lose control of areas of the city – a police precinct burnt to the ground in unprecedented scenes.
In recent weeks Minneapolis has felt increasingly on edge, with a sense of anxiety about the outcome of the trial.
For many the storming of the US Capitol by a mob of largely whitetrump supporters only highlighted the double standards many believe exist for black Americans when it comes to law enforcement.
President Joe Biden will be watching the trial closely but he won’t weigh in with his views while the judicial process takes place.
He met privately with the Floyd family last summer and promised to push for changes in policing. But such change is a challenge in a bitterly divided America.
A sweeping reform bill in George Floyd’s name, banning the use of choke-holds by police, was passed in the US House of Representatives earlier this month.
The only Republican to vote in favour said it was an accident after he’d hit the wrong voting button. Democrats now need to win over at least 10 Republicans for the bill to pass in the Senate and become law.
The trial of Derek Chauvin stands to have seismic repercussions for race relations in America. If found guilty it sets a precedent for future cases and strengthens President Biden’s hand for police reform.
If cleared of wrongdoing, it stands to reignite protest and unrest.the outcome of this trial, described as one of the biggest in US history, feels on a knife edge.