Congresswoman Cori Bush’s Statement on the Guilty Verdict in the State of Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Congresswoman Cori Bush (MO-01) released the following statement upon the conviction of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd:
“This trial has been nothing short of a traumatizing, painful and gut-wrenching reminder of how difficult it is to hold police accountable when they murder members of our community. Over the last month, we’ve been retraumatized, over, and over again as we watched 8 minutes and 46 seconds become 9 minutes and 29 seconds. We watched George Floyd’s brother weep on the stand, we watched a young person share the horror of witnessing this murder and we watched the character of George Floyd be put on trial, despite this being the trial of Derek Chauvin.
“And as we were bearing this pain, we witnessed a police officer murder 20-year-old Daunte Wright just miles from the courthouse. We witnessed militarized police invade the Minneapolis area, dropping tear gas and shooting rubber bullets upon people expressing their right to protest. All of the conditions that led to George Floyd’s death, to Daunte Wright’s death, to Adam Toledo’s death remain in place.
“Listening to the verdict today, I wanted to be overjoyed. But the truth is we should not have to wait with bated breath to find out whether accountability will be served.
“We live in a country where less than 1% of police officers are convicted for murdering civilians. The officers who murdered Breonna Taylor were not convicted. The officer who murdered Mike Brown Jr. was not convicted. The officer who murdered Stephon Clark was not convicted. The list goes on and on.
“This trial has always been about one police officer in a corrupt and violent system that continues to disproportionately target Black and brown people. We’ve all been forced to grapple with the question: What is justice? Because our criminal-legal system is not a just system—it’s a violent and oppressive one. A just world is one where George Floyd is never murdered. It’s one where Daunte Wright isn’t pulled over for having air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror. It’s one where Black lives matter. These are the same demands we had on the streets of Ferguson. These are the demands we brought to Congress. And, together, we will continue working on an ambitious set of policy proposals to transform public safety and to ensure communities like St. Louis no longer live under the constant threat of police violence.”
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Congresswoman Cori Bush represents Missouri’s First Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She serves on the House Judiciary Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform. She is also a Deputy Whip of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a proud member of the Congressional Black Caucus. She is a registered nurse, single mother, and an ordained pastor. Following the murder of Michael Brown Jr. by a now-terminated Ferguson police officer, she became a civil rights activist and community organizer fighting for justice for Black lives on the streets of Missouri and across the country.