Background

George Floyd was killed on May 25th, 2020.
The Minneapolis police officers involved in his arrest were fired on May 26th… and our nation, accompanied by the rest of the world, began to mourn through protests that shook the foundations of our society.

It took four days from the death of Mr. Floyd for an officer - Derek Chauvin - to be arrested and charged with his death.

On June 1st, Mr. Floyd’s death was ruled as a homicide by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner.

By June 3rd, all four officers involved in Mr. Floyd’s arrest are charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter, both felonies, court records show. Chauvin also received an additional second-degree murder charge, a felony.

On March 30th, the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin was underway.

These are only facts and dates on a timeline. They do not show the breadth and depth of the underlying plague of systemic racism fueled by white supremacy that has been ravaging our country for hundreds of years. They do not show how George Floyd’s entire life was shaped - and then crushed - by a racist system, nor the beauty of the fuller picture of his life as a Black man who was more than the struggles set against him.

Verdict

Today, Derek Chauvin was found guilty.

While we believe justice is far from served, let us reflect on the life of George Floyd to inspire us to continue the fight for Black lives, for the end of white supremacy, and for a society which respects diversity of all forms.