8.2
Winner
April 20, 2021

Derek Chauvin is found Guilty on All Three Counts.

I can’t seem to compose myself.

My tears flow as if someone close to me just died. I’ve spent 20 minutes sobbing into a dish towel. These tears come with a wave of gratitude for a jury of 12 people I don’t even know.

This jury just found Derek Chauvin guilty on all three counts.

He will go to prison for a long, long time for the murder of George Floyd.

I’m a white woman. An old, white woman. I have lived on this planet for 70 years, and I have felt impotent as I watched the injustices, the villainization, and the murders perpetrated against my Black brothers and sisters.

How many Black men and women have been killed at the hands of the police with no justice being served? A hell of a lot.

Today’s verdict feels like there may be some hope that we could reform policing in this country. I pray that it be so. I pray that George Floyd’s family finds some peace.

 

This verdict is for all of these men and women, and all those who have come before them—simply too many to list in one Elephant Journal article:

With thanks to Renée Ater for compiling this list.

Daunte Demetrius Wright, October 27, 2000 – April 11, 2021
Brooklyn Center, Minnesota
Shot: Brooklyn Center Police Officer

Marvin David Scott III, 1995 – March 14, 2021
McKinney, Texas
Peppered sprayed, restrained with spit hood, and asphyxiated: 7 Collin County Jail Detention Officers

Patrick Lynn Warren Sr., October 7, 1968 – January 10, 2021
Killeen, Texas
Shot: Killeen Police Officer

Vincent “Vinny” M. Belmonte, September 14, 2001 – January 5, 2021
Cleveland, Ohio
Shot: Cleveland Police Officer

Angelo Quinto, March 10, 1990 – December 26, 2020
Antioch, California
Knee on neck and asphyxiated: Antioch Police Officers

Andre Maurice Hill, May 23, 1973 – December 22, 2020
Columbus, Ohio
Shot: Columbus Police Officer

Casey Christopher Goodson Jr., January 30, 1997 – December 4, 2020
Columbus, Ohio
Shot: Franklin County Sheriff Deputy

Angelo “AJ” Crooms, May 15, 2004 – November 13, 2020
Cocoa, Florida
Shot: Brevard County Sheriff Deputies

Sincere Pierce, April 2, 2002 – November 13, 2020
Cocoa, Florida
Shot: Brevard County Sheriff Deputies

Marcellis Stinnette, June 17, 2001 – October 20, 2020
Waukegan, Illinois
Shot: Waukegan Police Officer

Jonathan Dwayne Price, November 3, 1988 – October 3, 2020
Wolfe City, Texas
Tasered and shot: Wolfe City Police Officer

Dijon Durand Kizzee, February 5, 1991 – August 31, 2020
Los Angeles, California
Shot: Los Angeles County Police

Rayshard Brooks, January 31, 1993 – June 12, 2020
Atlanta, Georgia
Shot: Atlanta Police Officer

Carlos Carson, May 16, 1984 – June 6, 2020
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Pepper Sprayed and shot in head: Knights Inn Tulsa Armed Security Guard, former sergeant and detention officer with the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office

David McAtee, August 3, 1966 – June 1, 2020
Louisville, Kentucky
Shot: Louisville Metropolitan Police Officer

Tony “Tony the Tiger” McDade, 1982 – May 27, 2020
Tallahassee, Florida
Shot: Tallahassee Police Officers

George Perry Floyd, October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020
Powderhorn, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Knee on neck and asphyxiated: Minneapolis Police Officer

Dreasjon “Sean” Reed, 1999 – May 6, 2020
Indianapolis, Indiana
Shot: Unidentified Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer

Michael Brent Charles Ramos, January 1, 1978 – April 24, 2020
Austin, Texas
Shot: Austin Police Detectives

Daniel T. Prude, September 20, 1978 – March 30, 2020
Rochester, New York
Asphyxiation: Rochester Police Officers

Breonna Taylor, June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020
Louisville, Kentucky
Shot: Louisville Metro Police Officers

Manuel “Mannie” Elijah Ellis, August 28, 1986 – March 3, 2020
Tacoma, Washington
Physical restraint and hypoxia: Tacoma Police Officers

William Howard Green, March 16, 1976 – January 27, 2020
Temple Hills, Maryland
Shot: Prince George’s County Police Officer

John Elliot Neville, 1962 – December 4, 2019
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Asphyxiated (hog-tied in prone position) leading to heart attack and brain injury: Forsyth County Sheriff Officers

Atatiana Koquice Jefferson, November 28, 1990 – October 12, 2019
Fort Worth, Texas
Shot: Fort Worth Police Officer

Elijah McClain, February 25, 1996 – August 30, 2019
Aurora, Colorado
Chokehold and ketamine leading to heart attack: Aurora Police Officers and Paramedic

Ronald Greene, September 28, 1969 – May 10, 2019
Monroe, Louisiana
Stun gun and force: Louisiana State Police

Javier Ambler, October 7, 1978 – March 28, 2019
Austin, Texas
Tasered and electrocuted: Williamson County Sheriff Deputy

Sterling Lapree Higgins, October 27, 1981 – March 25, 2019
Union City, Tennessee
Choke hold and asphyxiation: Union City Police Officer and Obion County Sheriff Deputies

 

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