CHAUVIN GUILTY
Former cop guilty on all counts for murder of George Floyd, reactions mixed around the region and nation >>
TRENTON » New Jersey leaders are calling for systemic changes after a Minnesota trial jury on Tuesday found ex-cop Derek Michael Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in the homicide of Black man George Floyd.
“The verdict is in. Derek Chauvin, ex-Minneapolis police officer has been found guilty of murder,” Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman said in a tweet. “But the battle for justice is long from over. The life and memory of George Floyd deserves to be honored, and our nation is in desperate need of police reform.”
Watson Coleman, a Democrat who represents the Greater Trenton area, also called upon Congress to pass the “George Floyd Justice in Policing Act that would provide transparency and accountability by eliminating qualified immunity, changing the standards for use of force, ending no-knock warrants, and more.”
Guilty as charged on all counts, the jury convicted Chauvin of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for his “culpable negligence” and “depraved mind, without regard for human life” in killing Floyd on May 25, 2020.
Samuel Frisby, chairman of the Mercer County Board of County Commissioners, applauded Tuesday’s verdict but also suggested more needs to be done in the way of progress.
“Dr. King once said peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of justice,” said Frisby, who sponsored a resolution last year supporting Black Lives Matter. “[The] verdict begins the introduction of peace in our nation, but for marginalized communities in particular. For once, we have seen justice delivered the way the nation’s forefathers envisioned it working. The way that it is supposed to work for all people when they break the law. … This was one step in a very long race.”
Frisby also applauded those who protested Chauvin’s actions, especially local cops who recognized the disgraced officer “was neither protecting nor serving.”
Fired from the Minneapolis Police Department for his unlawful and deadly conduct, Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd’s neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, restraining the Black man in the prone position and killing him by means of asphyxiation, according to testimony and statements presented in the murder trial.
Trenton Council President Kathy McBride said she was grateful to the bystander who had captured Chauvin’s actions on video. She was keeping Floyd’s family in her thoughts, knowing the verdict does little to soothe their pain.
“Thank God for the young lady that shared the video, the prosecutors, witnesses and the jurors. Justice has prevailed in this case,” she said Tuesday evening.
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said the viral video of Chauvin with his knee on Floyd’s neck “was horrific.”
“I don’t think anybody
could justify what was done,” Gusciora said, “especially after people were calling for him to ease up. The officer never let up. It seemed like he was trying to make a point with the crowd.”
After Chauvin murdered the 46-year-old Floyd in police custody last May, antiracism protests took place throughout the United States and the world, including here in New Jersey.
Following a peaceful protest on May 31, 2020, a group of individuals embarked upon East State Street in downtown Trenton and began to loot and destroy property.
Trenton Police, meanwhile, have come under fire for the way they handled an encounter with a white man
last year.
Stephen Dolceamore, 29, of Pennsylvania, died during a struggle with TPD on April 3, 2020, outside of St. Francis Medical Center.
Sgt. Anthony Manzo, Robert Furman III, Joseph McCarthy and Vishan Singh struggled with and used force on Dolceamore, according to use-of-force reports obtained by The Trentonian.
Cops remained on top of Dolceamore for at least three minutes after getting him handcuffed while he begged them to ease up, the videos showed.
“I can’t breathe,” Dolceamore said on body camera footage.
Autopsy findings were shared with Dolceamore’s family but haven’t been made public despite public records requests.
A spokesman for the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office earlier this year said the presentation of the case to a grand jury has been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gina Rambo, Dolceamore’s cousin, said in a previous interview that she felt that Trenton Police’s actions mirrored those of Chauvin.
Mayor Gusciora declined to address the Dolceamore case while it’s still pending.
Similar to the Dolceamore case, Floyd had a fateful encounter with police and said “I can’t breathe” before dying at Chauvin’s knee.
“George Floyd, like countless other Black Americans whose futures have been unjustly stolen from them, should be alive today,” Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday evening in a press statement. “While today’s verdict provides some measure of justice and accountability for the Floyd family and millions of our fellow Americans, all of us must remember that systemic racism is still pervasive in American life.”
Junior U.S. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey called for systemic change following the guilty verdicts.
“Accountability for the officer who murdered George Floyd is important and it is necessary,” the Newark Democrat said Tuesday in a statement. “But it is far from enough. We must also hold the system that allowed it to happen accountable. What are we going to do as a country to prevent this from happening again and again and again and again? We must change this system that is killing us. We must change the complacency that allows it to persist. We must change our laws.”
Hamilton Mayor Jeff Martin, who took the knee at a local BLM rally last summer, on Tuesday offered prayers following Chauvin’s murder convictions.
“My heart goes out to George Floyd’s family,” he said in a statement. “While no verdict can bring him back, hopefully this verdict provides some degree of justice and closure for his loved ones.”
“I pray we use this moment to further heal as a nation,” Martin added, “and work together towards a more perfect Union.”
Members of Hamilton Council did not talk about Chauvin or Floyd during their virtual meeting Tuesday evening but discussed redevelopment to the township’s predominantly Black Bromley neighborhood.
Chauvin, a 45-year-old white man, did not testify in his murder trial, but his defense attorney tried to blame Floyd’s death on drugs and underlying medical conditions while arguing the knee-restraint tactic was kosher.
“Mr. Floyd was killed by Chauvin and a broader system of racist policing in America,” Ryan Haygood, president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said Tuesday evening in a statement. “So even as we take in today’s verdict, it is past time to build a new system. A new system that prioritizes accountability for law enforcement officials. A new system that looks beyond policing to what community investments Black people need to really be safe. A new system that protects and empowers Black lives in all areas of life.”