CT Reacts To Derek Chauvin Guilty Verdict

CONNECTICUT — State officials expressed satisfaction with the jury's verdict Tuesday in the trial of Derek Chauvin, but also viewed it as a call to action.

The former police officer was found guilty on all counts, including both third and second-degree murder in the Memorial Day 2020 death of George Floyd. Chauvin was also convicted of second-degree manslaughter.

"Today’s verdict delivers justice and, I hope, some peace to George Floyd’s family and community," said U.S. Rep. Jim Himes who represents Connecticut's 4th District. "But, the injustice and racism that lead to the disproportionate killing of Black men and women remain. We have work to do."

Chauvin, who is white, was charged in the death of Floyd, a Black man who died after Chauvin kneeled on him for more than nine minutes despite Floyd's protests that he could not breathe. Floyd's death sparked nationwide protests demanding racial justice and police reform.

Attorney General William Tong issued the following statement today regarding the guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin.

“This trial may have given us accountability, but that is not the same thing as justice," Tong wrote. "There is no justice for George Floyd, who was murdered. There is no justice for his family, who lost George and the lives they used to know. There is no justice for the people of Minnesota and all across this nation, who must bear this pain and trauma. There is only the hard work ahead, to overcome the hate and racism that sentences families and entire communities to grief, tragedy and unending loss."

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff on Twitter said he viewed the verdict as "part of a continuing story on accountability:"

Floyd's arrest and death — captured on a bystander video — was seen across the globe, sparking outrage and leading to countless protests around the country.

In a statement, Connecticut Treasurer Shawn Wooden remembered that video as the match that ignited a fuse around the world:

"...and in the case of George Floyd’s killing, we saw the world respond in anguish, after watching the eight minutes and 46 seconds of video footage in which Derek Chauvin had his knee on Floyd’s neck, leading to his death. The world didn’t need to hear today’s verdict to know that what happened to George Floyd was wrong. The video was so powerful that it sparked a national racial reckoning, something I often refer to as our modern-day “Emmett Till” moment. A moment that led to half a million people in the United States peacefully protesting in nearly 550 places across our country on one given day last June."

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said "We all will remember Monday, May 25, 2020. That day and those that followed have fundamentally driven the national call for addressing racism, police brutality, inequality, and the pitfalls of our criminal justice system and how we can make efforts to fix them."

"On May 25th of last year, the nation could not breathe," Elicker said. "The knee of Derek Chauvin suffocated George Floyd with the weight of hundreds of years of racism and hatred. A weight manifested that further embodied white supremacy and exemplified the issues that are still unresolved from a half-century ago during the Civil Rights Movement. Let’s face it: the country is divided, and these incidents have been happening all along. It is just now that we are documenting them with our cell phones, calling them out in our everyday lives, and standing up for equality in America, and fighting back against hate."

Elicker commended the jury for its verdict and said more work remains on "this journey for equality in America."

Echoing a theme recurring among the comments made by Connecticut leaders, 2nd District State Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan tweeted that "We still have a long way to go."

The verdict comes less than two weeks after another Black man's fatal interaction with police sparked unrest in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Former Brooklyn Center police Officer Kim Potter faces charges of second-degree manslaughter in the shooting death of Daunte Wright, 20, in the Minneapolis suburb last week.

For more on the Chauvin verdict, and its aftermath, see the Minneapolis Patch.