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Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11

Cook: George Floyd, Maxine Cousin and Tim Kelly’s first speech

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Mayor Tim Kelly addresses the crowd after being sworn in during the One Chattanooga inauguration ceremony at the Tivoli Theatre on Monday, April 19, 2021 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Tim Kelly was sworn in as the 66th mayor of Chattanooga.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Mayor Tim Kelly addresses the crowd after being sworn in during the One Chattanooga inauguration ceremony at the Tivoli Theatre on Monday, April 19, 2021 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Tim Kelly was sworn in as the 66th mayor of Chattanooga. Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Mayor Tim Kelly addresses the crowd after being sworn in during the One Chattanooga inauguration ceremony at the Tivoli Theatre on Monday, April 19, 2021 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Tim Kelly was sworn in as the 66th mayor of Chattanooga.

We were in the kitchen cooking. Tuesday night. My wife read the news on her phone.

“They convicted him,” she said.

I wasn’t sure they would. Others, just as guilty, had walked free.

So, I’d guarded my heart, assuming the worst.

Yet 12 ordinary Americans, called forth under civic duty and placed in the spotlight of history, saw the murder of George Floyd clearly.