Queens leaders say justice doesn’t end with Chauvin verdict
/
Queens leaders responded after a Minneapolis jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of murder Tuesday. AP Photo/Seth Wenig
By Rachel Vick
A Minneapolis jury on Tuesday found ex-cop Derek Chauvin guilty of murdering George Floyd, a brutal killing that sparked protests against institutional racism and police violence around the world and here in the World’s Borough.
The verdict, guilty on all three charges, prompted additional demonstrations in New York City and responses from Queens leaders, who reflected on the meaning of justice and the work yet to come.
Councilmember Adrienne Adams, chair of the Committee on Public Safety, said that the guilty verdict is a step in the right direction but “will not take away the pain that Derek Chauvin’s cruel and vicious actions have caused.”
“I hope it will send the message that law enforcement will be held accountable for such violence, disrespect, and disregard toward Black communities,” said Adams, who oversees the New York City Police Department in her role as public safety chair. “I will continue to fight for systemic change to ensure that justice is delivered to the victims of police violence, their families, and all Black and brown communities that have been disproportionately harmed by law enforcement for far too long.”
State Sen. Leroy Comrie echoed Adams and called New Yorkers to keep up the movement that grew last spring and summer. “Organize and advocate for change in a criminal justice system that continues to be tilted radically against people of color,” Comrie said.
He also named many other Black and African Americans killed at the hands of the police officers never held accountable for their deaths.
“In light of this victory, I am thinking of Daunte Wright, Rayshard Brooks, Breonna Taylor, Philando Castile, Sandra Bland, Freddie Gray, Jr., Tamir Rice and all the countless Black men, women, and children who we have lost to police violence — most of them victims who never got their justice,” he said.
Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, accidental death while commiting intentional assault; third-degree murder; and second-degree manslaughter — negligence creating an unreasonable risk.
“Each of those crimes were an affront not only to our modern society but those in who we entrust our safety,” said the City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus. “George Floyd’s murder will only be a watershed moment in the history of our nation if the country truly reconciles, in our time, with all facets of its tortured legacy of systemic racism; but... negligence, depraved indifference, and the murder of Black lives by the police and vigilantes who fancy themselves as agents of the law continues.
“Integrity in law enforcement and fundamental respect for those under its protection should be a shared goal. And the criminal conviction that we have witnessed today cannot be an aberration but a precedent,” they add, calling on Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
And Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who has organized a rally for today at 3 p.m., said the court victory is no cause for celebration because no verdict could bring Floyd back to his family.
“We applaud justice being served for George Floyd’s family today, and our hearts are with them as they continue to grieve,” Richards said. “But for every case that ends in a conviction, there are countless more where justice escapes us. Until Black and brown lives finally matter equally in our society, our struggle continues.”
