A verdict finding Derek Chauvin guilty in the death of George Floyd would not wipe out generations of trauma, Vice President Kamala Harris commented on Tuesday.
“This verdict is but a piece of it,” she told CNN’s Dana Bash during an interview at the White House:
And it will not heal the pain that existed for generations, that has existed for generations among people who have experienced and first-hand witnessed what now a broader public is seeing because of smartphones and the ubiquity of our ability to videotape in real time what is happening in front of our faces. And that is the reality of it.
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Let’s say there is a guilty verdict on the highest charge, it will not take away the pain of the Floyd family. It will not take away the pain of the communities, all communities, regardless of their color or geographic location, that felt sadness and anger in what they witnessed in that video.
In a brief proceeding, Judge Peter A. Cahill unsealed the envelope carrying the jury’s decision and read the verdicts aloud, then asked each individual juror to confirm the decision. Bail was then revoked and Chauvin, nodding in assent, was led away in handcuffs.
A crowd gathered in downtown Minneapolis was jubilant. Speakers imposed those gathered to continue their commitment to the cause of police reform, though they might “celebrate” for a day. Around the country, local authorities braced for potential riots, regardless of the outcome. National Guard units were on standby in case of unrest and looting.
According to ABC 17, the White House has been monitoring the situation and deciding how President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris should address the trial’s outcome.