Barack Obama celebrated the conviction of the former police officer who murdered George Floyd, but asked “to proceed with reforms that eliminate racial bias.”

Barack Obama ruled this Tuesday on the Justice Department’s ruling in Minneapolis against former police officer Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Through a meaningful statement, the former President of the United States celebrated the jury’s decision found guilty of the former officer, but He warned the country should take it as a nudge to “press ahead with reforms that eliminate racial bias.”

“While today’s verdict may have been a step towards progress, it is far from sufficient. We cannot rest. We will have to continue with concrete reforms that reduce and ultimately eliminate racial bias in our criminal justice system. “, said in the text published just minutes after the Minneapolis Justice verdict.

“True justice requires that we accept that African Americans are treated differently every day. It requires us to recognize that millions of our friends, family and fellow citizens fear their next meeting with law enforcement could be their last, ”he added.

To that effect, Democratic lawmaker Karen Bass in February introduced a bill called Floyd that effectively aims to reform the police and civil rights system. Part of the initiative is aimed at combating racial prejudice among the security forces.

In another passage in his speech, Obama emphasized the dedication of the thousands of young people who marched and protested last year to “clarifying inequality and calling for change”: “Justice is closer today, not only because of this verdict, but also because of his work.”

Michelle and I send our prayers to the Floyd family, hoping they find peace of mind. And we stand by all those who are committed to guaranteeing all Americans the full measure of justice that George and so many others have been denied, ” the former US president concluded in his letter.

For his part, the head of state of the United States, Joe Biden, celebrated this Tuesday that “justice” had been done in the trial for the African American’s death last May, after former police officer Chauvin was found guilty of the three charges he faced.

Biden, Obama’s former vice president, also pledged to push for more reforms to police practices, during a phone call with Floyd’s brother, Philonise, which was videotaped and posted on Twitter by the family’s attorney, Ben Crump.

Derek Chauvin, the former police officer charged with the murder of African-American George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020, was found guilty on Tuesday on all three charges he faced.

The jury decided that unanimously Chauvin is guilty of second degree involuntary murder, punishable by up to 40 years in prison; third-degree murder, with a maximum sentence of 25 years, and second-degree involuntary manslaughter, involving up to 10 years of deprivation of liberty.

Because he has no criminal record, could only be sentenced to up to 12 and a half years in prison for each of the first two charges and 4 years in prison for the third.

The sentence to be served by the former police officer who has already been convicted of causing Floyd’s death by asphyxiation will be known in a few weeks, between six and eight, as Judge Peter Cahill has pointed out.

The jurors spent just over ten hours deliberating to arrive at the verdict Judge Cahill read after 4 p.m. in Minneapolis.

The family lawyer, Ben Crump, praised the belief and named it “A turning point in history” of the United States. Painful justice has finally arrived for George’s family Floyd”He indicated in his social networks.

“This statement is a turning point in history and sends a clear signal about the need for accountability by law enforcement officials. Justice for black America is justice for all of America! Crump noted.

The more than 600 people gathered in front of the courthouse, following the broadcast live on their cell phones, hugging each other and leaping for joy at each announced charge.

Hundreds of people also gathered on the corner where Floyd died, in the south of the city, where people symbolically threw banknotes to the store that the African-American reported paying with a fake.

On May 25, 2020, Chauvin was filmed kneeling on the neck for more than nine minutes FloydEven as the hefty 46-year-old man in handcuffs begged, “Please, I can’t breathe.”

The images were taken by passers-by who testify to the arrest of Floyd, accused of buying cigarettes with a fake $ 20 bill, were seen by millions of people inside and outside the country.

The verdict will also cover Derek Chauvin’s three former colleagues -Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao-, who will be tried in August for ‘complicity in murder’.

With information from AFP and EFE

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