Updated April 21, at 10:06 a.m.
Racial justice and political leaders in Vermont mournfully celebrated Tuesday’s guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial. While many said they felt the jury delivered proper accountability, they also expressed regret it had to come at the cost of George Floyd’s life.
The former Minneapolis police officer was convicted on all three counts related to the death last Memorial Day of Floyd: second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
The jurors deliberated for 10 hours before delivering their verdict Tuesday evening in the trial that began March 29. Floyd’s death sparked global outrage when Chauvin was filmed kneeling on his neck for 9 minutes and 26 seconds in May 2020, and has become a symbol for the epidemic of police brutality Black men have historically faced from police. Chauvin will be sentenced at a later date.
Over the 14-day trial, jurors heard from a number of witnesses and experts. The prosecution told the jury to focus on the video that shows Chauvin clearly and forcefully kneeling on Floyd’s neck, which medical examiners said was the direct cause of his death.
The defense urged jurors to look at the totality of the interaction between Floyd and Chauvin. They said Floyd had resisted getting into the police car and argued that the 46-year-old’s death may not have been solely caused by Chauvin’s actions. They argued Floyd also had poor heart health and was found to have fentanyl and methamphetamine in his system, according to reporting by the New York Times.
Tyeastia Green, Burlington’s first director of racial equity, inclusion and belonging, said in an email that she was “overcome with emotions” when she heard that Chauvin had been convicted on all three counts. “So many tears. So much grief and relief,” she wrote.
“To be in this black body and constantly seen as a threat even as you lie dead, shows how much work we still have yet to do,” Green wrote. “It’s beyond time to reimagine policing. Beyond time to reimagine public safety. Beyond time for this country and the world to see black people as human beings.”
In Brattleboro, where George Floyd’s death spurred a Community Safety Review Committee report on problems with local policing, the verdict sparked a relieved response from the Windham County branch of the NAACP, the largest civil rights organization in the country.
“We watched a human being, brother, cousin and friend be murdered on camera, and we’re glad the jury saw what the world saw,” branch President Steffen Gillom said. “We are hoping this is the start of a new conversation and new type of justice, because we have seen countless Black people be killed, beaten or maimed at the hands of law enforcement who are supposed to be here to protect us.”
The verdict is expected to be noted at the Windham County NAACP’s coming public online Freedom Fund program Friday night. The fundraising event is set to feature the Rev. Shannon MacVean-Brown, Vermont’s first Black female Episcopal bishop, and Chittenden County state Sen. Kesha Ram, the first woman of color to serve in her chamber.
Curtiss Reed, who has conducted bias training for police departments across the state in his role as executive director of the Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity, said he was “ecstatic” about the verdict.
“This is a chink in the armor of the law enforcement’s code of silence that I think was broken wide open,” he said. “I think it sets a precedent.”
Leadership matters, Reed said, noting that the Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo condemned Chauvin’s actions and said they did not align with police department policies.
What can Vermonters take away from the trial and verdict? Take out your camera, Reed said.
“If you see something happening, catch it on your iPhone,” he said. “That simple act of being witness to abuse and criminality is critically important to justice.”
Mia Schultz, president of the Rutland County NAACP, said that even though the verdict felt obvious to her, she was on pins and needles, unsure about whether the jury would find Chauvin guilty.
“We knew that there was a possibility that it would come out ‘not guilty,’” she said. “I do feel relieved that there was a guilty verdict. But I still am not quite there. This was a modern-day lynching that we we all watched collectively unfold on television.”
And though it represents a step toward justice, she said, the underlying systemic issues have not been solved.
“This is not a time to feel elation or that all of our problems are solved. In fact, it means we have to fight even more diligently against the systems that oppress Black and brown people, LGBTQ people, people with disabilities, anybody who’s been othered,” Schultz said. “But specifically, Black and brown people who have over centuries endured dehumanization at the hands of white supremacy.”
She warned of complacency.
“In America, police are under trial,” Schultz said. “We need to keep them under trial. We need to keep them accountable. We need to not take this as something that is resolved.”
Tabitha Moore, who was the president of the Rutland Area NAACP until racial harassment in Rutland prompted her to move from the area, listened to the verdict with Essex Police Chief Ron Hoague.
“I’ve been working with the Essex Police Department as part of the contract with the Town of Essex that came about last year after the murder of George Floyd,” she said.
She asked Hoague about his anxiety level before the jury read its verdict, on a scale of one to 10. Hoague told her it was between a four and a five, Moore said. Hers was at a seven or an eight.
“The impending danger to my life may not be immediate, but this is absolutely a factor in what can happen next for me,” she said. “I’m not in the crisis in the moment, but it’s much higher for me, because my people are on the line. And he heard that.”
Moore hopes Vermonters will continue to look closely at the state’s criminal justice system.
“What’s alarming to me is the level of blatant obvious misconduct that needed to happen,” she said, “and the levels of community pressure, and the numbers of people in the law enforcement community and people across the world coming out to say ‘this is murder’ — that’s what it took for the justice system to find him guilty.”
Political leaders weigh in
Vermont’s political leaders lamented the systems shrouded by systemic racism that allowed for Floyd’s death to happen in the first place.
“Justice has been served,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., said in a written statement. “As a former prosecutor I know well that officers of the law have the incredibly important and difficult job of keeping our communities safe, but in so doing they cannot be above the law. Murder is murder, and the police badge must never serve as a shield against accountability for those who commit it.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a written statement that the verdict brought accountability for Chauvin but not justice for Floyd. “Real justice for him and too many others can only happen when we build a nation that fundamentally respects the human dignity of every person,” Sanders wrote.
“Our struggle now is about justice — not justice on paper, but real justice in which all Americans live their lives free of oppression,” Sanders wrote. “We must boldly root out the cancer of systemic racism and police violence against people of color.”
Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt, called the verdict a relief.
“George Floyd was publicly murdered on camera for the world to see,” Welch wrote in a statement. “This verdict is an important step for our country as we wrestle with centuries of injustice. But there is so much more work to do in our communities, in the halls of Congress, and in each of our lives to build a society free of bigotry and inequality. We all must commit to do the work, every day.”
Last summer when Floyd’s death was making waves across the country, Gov. Phil Scott called for the officers involved to be prosecuted. On Tuesday, he tweeted that the verdict brings some justice, but Floyd’s death cannot be treated as a single and rare event.
“Let’s use this moment to acknowledge the scope of the challenge and recommit to the work of building an equitable country,” Scott tweeted. “This is our obligations as citizens, as we pursue a more perfect union.”
Lt. Gov. Molly Gray called the verdict “a moment of accountability.”
“This is not the end but the beginning of a long path of police reform, criminal justice reform and collective efforts to root out systemic racism across our country,” she said in a written statement.
Attorney General TJ Donovan thanked jury members for their service and said he was grateful for their verdict.
“George Floyd should be alive today,” Donovan said in a written statement. “He deserved to be treated with respect and fairness, especially by a member of law enforcement.
House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, said in a statement that Vermont has a “tremendous” amount of work ahead to continue dismantling systemic racism.
“The justice system in our country continues to fail our BIPOC communities in so many ways,” Krowinski wrote, “and while this verdict brings a sliver of closure to this tragedy, it does not change the fact that a life was lost and people across the country continue to question whether or not they are safe in their own communities.”
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement that the three guilty verdicts show that Chauvin’s conduct has no place in American law enforcement.
“We need to reimagine public safety, root systemic racism out of every sector of society, and truly see and value the humanity of our Black and brown neighbors. There can be no turning back. Burlington will remain steadfast in its commitment to this historic task,” Weinberger wrote.
“While today’s verdict provides some sense of relief, we must also remember that our Black and brown Burlingtonians are still feeling much grief,” he added. “They remember many others who didn’t get this result, and are still reeling from many injustices they endure daily.”
