Anti-police brutality activists in Chattanooga felt encouraged but not vindicated on Tuesday as the killing that spurred weeks of protests in 2020 resulted in three guilty verdicts against the police officer who knelt on George Floyd’s neck.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted on three charges – second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter – for the May 2020 death of Floyd.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died during an arrest last summer when Chauvin knelt on his neck for over nine minutes. Video of Floyd’s death, and his cries of “I can’t breathe,” ignited monthslong protests in cities across the country, including in Chattanooga.
“This is an example that, ‘Hey guess what guys, we can prosecute police when they make an egregious mistake. We can hold people accountable, and a badge is not a license to kill,'” activist and musician Cameron “C-Grimey” Williams said Tuesday, noting past instances of officers being acquitted in similar cases.
“It shows that when there is an egregious act … the DA and the state have the capabilities to hold them accountable, and make a case, and to prosecute them to the fullest extent,” Williams said. “And also what this shows is the power of the people. We understand that before, even with the video, these officers were not arrested. These officers were not even fired from being police. So it also shows the power of activism, for all those who said, over the spring and summer, that protesting is futile. This is why protest is not futile.”