海角大神

As we digest the rare guilty verdict for a police officer in the death of Black man, three things stand out in the Derek Chauvin trial.聽聽

鈥� First, the unified stand taken by Minneapolis police. There was no code of silence, no corrupt brotherhood of the badge. Rather, we saw multiple officers construct a blue wall of integrity. Police Chief Medaria Arradondo testified that what former officer Chauvin did was 鈥渘ot part of our training, and is .鈥�

鈥� Second, the wisdom of putting on the stand a 9-year-old girl who had witnessed George Floyd鈥檚 death. Even a child, jurors were told, understood Mr. Chauvin鈥檚 behavior was wrong.聽

鈥� Third, the composition of the jury: people. Seven were women; five were men. They included a nurse, an immigrant, an auditor, and a grandmother. This was a jury of America 鈥� and it reached a united conclusion.

Still, a man died under the knee of a cop. 鈥淚 would not call today鈥檚 verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration,鈥� Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said after the verdict. 鈥淏ut it is accountability, which is the first step towards justice.鈥澛�

Yes, a first step. This case alone won鈥檛 transform the U.S. criminal justice system. But it produced a seismic impulse for humanity to confront racial inequality (more on that below). And in a court of law, George Floyd鈥檚 life mattered.