A short while ago, justice was served.
Derek Chauvin, the police officer who, on video, murdered George Floyd was convicted of all the counts he was charged with- second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. His bail was revoked and he was taken away in handcuffs, remanded into custody.
I am currently overwhelmed with feelings and emotions and would just like to share a few of them.
The first feeling, and perhaps the strongest, is that it is insane how relieved I feel that a murderer- who was FILMED MURDERING SOMEONE- got a guilty verdict, because it kind of feels like we were all on pins and needles wondering if the jury would return the wrong verdict. The fact that there was any doubt of what would happen is what is exactly wrong with the justice system these days and proof that we need massive fucking reform and that is has to start with police. It is crazy that so many of us are so overjoyed just because, one time, the legal system worked the way it was supposed to. And honestly, without the protests in Minneapolis last summer, there’s a better than even chance that Chauvin doesn’t even get charged. As a reminder, 4 days passed between Floyd’s murder and Chauvin’s arrest.
Obviously, justice is a good thing. But this needs to be the first step. It took nationwide protests to show people that we are not ok with police murdering an unarmed black man. But this is not the time to rest. The events of last week, both in Minnesota and my home state of Illinois have shown that.
Also, and this sucks that I’m thinking about dummies at a time like this, but I imagine that if you’re on social media at all, you’re going to start seeing a backlash from real chowderheads who have no idea what the fuck they’re talking about.
You’re going to see people say that the jury only found Chauvin guilty because they were afraid of what would happen to Minneapolis if they didn’t, as if there wasn’t video of the murder.
You’re going to see people say that guilty verdicts like these are going to either stop people from wanting to becoming policemen or have current policemen quit. Well, I hate to break it to you, but if being found guilty after killing someone is a deal-breaker, those people probably shouldn’t fucking be cops to begin with.
You’re going to see people go after Joe Biden, who called the Floyd family, as if it’s somehow insane that you told a grieving family that you hope a man’s killer gets found guilty.
And while I haven’t seen this yet, and I suspect it’s only because Tucker Carlson’s show doesn’t start for a little while, you’re going to see some shithead make a comment like, “I bet you won’t see Republicans riot and loot because of this verdict!”, as if there should be any reason that people would want to do that just because a murderer was convicted. Or that people wouldn’t understand why a community would be angry as unarmed people of color are murdered by police over and over and over again.
All of those people saying these things need to go royally fuck off. There is no place for them, not today and, hopefully, not tomorrow or any day to come.
There’s so much work to be done. So much we all have to stand up and fight for. But today, justice prevailed. And there’s something to be said about that.
Fancy Boys Club 