President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, in statements, called on Tuesday condemnation of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd a step forward towards a fairer America, but stressed that more needs to be done. Chauvin was found guilty of all three charges: second-degree manslaughter, third-degree manslaughter, and second-degree manslaughter.
“A measure of justice is not the same as equal justice,” Harris said, speaking first. “This verdict takes us one step further and the fact is that we still have work to do. We still have to reform the system.”
Harris said injustice is not just a “problem of people of color,” but a problem for “all Americans.” He urged Congress to pass legislation reforming policing in the United States, specifically the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Biden echoed Harris’ statements.
“Today’s verdict is a step forward,” the president said. “Nothing can ever bring his brother and father back. But that can be a giant step in the march toward justice in the United States.”
The president said a guilty verdict is “too rare” in cases like this, and that this particular guilty verdict required a convergence of factors: video footage of a 17-year-old girl, the shock of a nation. ” , a murder that lasted almost ten minutes in broad daylight. ”
“We can’t stop here,” said Biden, who insisted that more needs to be done to ensure a similar tragedy does not happen again and urged the passage of the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act so that it can sign it in law. The president also urged protesters to remain peaceful as cities across the country prepare for violence.
Biden and Harris saw the verdict with their staff in the White House private dining room. After reading the verdict, Mr. Biden, Harris, and First Lady Jill Biden spoke with Philonise Floyd, the brother of George Floyd, of the Oval Office. According to a video shared by Ben Crump, the Floyd family’s chief lawyer, Mr Biden told them, “now there is justice.”
Chauvin’s bail was immediately revoked, meaning he will spend his time until his sentence in prison. He will be sentenced in eight weeks. In Minnesota, second-degree murder carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison. Third-degree murder is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Second-degree homicide is punishable by up to ten years in prison. But sentencing guidelines recommend less time for offenders with no criminal record.
Biden had been paying close attention to the trial and spoke Monday with Floyd’s family, ahead of the verdict.
On Tuesday earlier, Mr Biden said “praying the verdict is the right verdict, which is, in my opinion, I think is overwhelming.”
Following those statements, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said she did not believe the president would consider this weighing on the verdict.
Prior to the verdict, Vice President Kamala Harris told CNN that even a guilty verdict cannot “take away the pain.”
“Let’s say there’s a guilty verdict for the higher charge, which won’t remove the pain of the Floyd family,” the vice president told CNN. “It will not eliminate the pain of communities, of all communities, regardless of their color or geographic location, who felt sadness and anger at what they witnessed in this video.”
The legal team representing George Floyd’s family issued a statement after the verdict supporting the jury’s verdict, calling the decision “painfully won justice.”
“Painfully won justice has arrived for George Floyd’s family and community here in Minneapolis, but today’s verdict goes far beyond that city and has significant implications for the country and even the world.” , said attorney Benjamin Crump. “Justice for Black America is justice for all of America. This case is a turning point in American history for law enforcement accountability and sends a clear message that we hope to ‘listen clearly to all cities and all states’.
Floyd’s assassination in May sparked protests around the world and a calculation of the race in the United States