WASHINGTON, D.C. [4/21/21]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released the following statement after the verdict was announced in the Derek Chauvin trial:
“Convicting Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is a moment of accountability, and also a moment to recommit ourselves to the movement for racial justice his tragic murder sparked.
“Millions of people took to the streets because we couldn’t look away from the reality of George Floyd’s murder and we could see change had to come. I can’t stop thinking about all the Black and Brown people denied their civil rights and denied their lives, where there was no accountability.
“Last week a reporter interviewing me referred to Minnesota as ‘the Jim Crow of the North.’ Devastating. He was talking about the deep and persistent inequities in housing, health care, policing and the criminal justice system, and economic opportunity that people of color experience in my state.
“These inequities exist, not only in Minnesota, but all across our country. And we can change them.
“What if this verdict is the beginning of a transformation in public safety for Minnesota and our country, where we move past the warrior model of policing and toward a model of truly protecting and serving?
“What if we rethink public safety so that Black and Brown people, and all people, truly feel safe and protected in their homes, neighborhoods and communities?
“This is the work ahead of all of us.”
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