Memorial Day 2020: George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died while being restrained by Minneapolis police.
This week, almost a year after the tragedy, trial began for Derek Chauvin, the police officer who callously and casually kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes. The jury will have to decide whether his actions during those infamous 9 minutes and 29 seconds – where life was literally sucked out of Floyd—constituted excessive and unreasonable force.
This case is not only about whether to hold Derek Chauvin criminally responsible. Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump summed up the importance of this particular trial: "Today starts a landmark trial that will be a referendum on how far America has come in its quest for equality and justice for all. It will be prima facie evidence."
This is not a complicated and difficult case. Passing a counterfeit $20 is not a death penalty offense. So, why are there questions in this case? Because Chauvin is a white cop and Floyd was a black man.
So, along with Chauvin our system of justice is on trial.
Click here to read the full post from Legal Examiner.