Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I PRAY FORFRIDAY KILLER COP
George Floyd’s sister reveals her thoughts after officer Chauvin convicted of murder
GEORGE Floyd’s sister says she is praying for the police officer who murdered him.
Latonya Floyd, 52, also called on Britain to fight against racism in the name of her dead brother.
Derek Chauvin was this week found guilty of murdering Mr Floyd by kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes during an arrest in a street.
Latonya said: “As for my feelings towards Mr Chauvin, I pray for him and I’m going to continue to pray for him.”
She added her family has taken comfort in the conviction. Chauvin, 45, faces up to 40 years in prison.
Latonya said: “One of my greater moments is when they put the handcuffs on that young man, because he put the handcuffs on my baby brother and there was nothing my brother could do. Nothing but kick and squeal and try to get up and try to breathe.”
Mr Floyd, 46, was killed in May last year shortly after being arrested on suspicion of using a fake $20 note.
Film footage of Chauvin pinning Mr Floyd down in Minneapolis in the US sparked protests across the world including in the UK.
BRUTALITY
Latonya said: “What I would say to people in Britain is to hang in there.
“Keep praying and keep protesting. Always use George Floyd as an example. Keep him in mind, protest in his name, because you see what happened here.”
Appearing on ITV show Good Morning Britain, she was asked what was going through her mind in the moments leading up to the verdict.
She said: “I was thinking I have to keep the faith and I believed the whole time he was going to get a guilty verdict on all three charges. But so much has happened, so many cases of police brutality never go anywhere... But I had to have that faith, and me and my family had to hang on to that.
“When I heard that first guilty verdict, we knew the rest was gonna be guilty, guilty, guilty.
“That blew my mind, it was overwhelming.”
She added: “My heart jumped out of my chest. We all went crazy – that’s awesome – we got the justice we deserved.”
Mr Floyd’s niece Bianca slammed Chauvin’s lack of repentance. She said: “No apology, no remorse... I feel like he sat there with a smirk on his face.” Chauvin, sacked from the police after the killing, was found guilty of second-degree murder, thirddegree murder, and manslaughter.
Three other officers who were involved in the arrest are due to go on trial in August.
My heart jumped out of my chest. We went crazy LATONYA FLOYD ON REACTION TO VERDICT