Derek Chauvin is found guilty on all three counts against him in the murder of George Floyd.
I am overjoyed, relieved, and at a loss. Though a guilty verdict has been rendered against Derek Chauvin, we must wait nearly eight weeks for the judge’s sentencing decision.
Meanwhile, there are many other murder cases in which police (and others) are culpable; and we don’t even know if those former police officers or others will be indicted, much less tried in a court of law.
As a result, my joy over Chauvin’s verdict is overlayed with frustration: imagining, worrying about what comes next. Will Chauvin’s sentence satisfy the millions, like me, who think he should get the maximum on all counts and serve them consecutively? Will any other former police officers have to stand before a jury of their peers and be tried for murder? Is this verdict a victory?
This verdict is, for me, bittersweet at the moment, because there are many others gone in recent memory for whom we have not had anything like justice.
Speaking freely 