Chesterfield anti-racism campaigners comment after Derek Chauvin found guilty of murder of George Floyd
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On Tuesday, jurors found the former police officer guilty of murdering 46-year-old George Floyd in the American city of Minneapolis last year.
Chauvin, 45, was filmed kneeling on the black man’s neck for more than nine minutes when he was arrested in May 2020.
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Hide AdThe footage led to worldwide outrage and protests against systemic racism.
Jeannie Robinson, of Chesterfield Stand up to Racism, told the Derbyshire Times: “Stand up to Racism welcomes the guilty verdict on Derek Chauvin.
“We recognise it as a victory for the Black Lives Matter movement across the world, including for ourselves as campaigners in Derbyshire.
“Hundreds of people across the county joined ‘take the knee’ protests in solidarity and to highlight police brutality.
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Hide Ad“This verdict shows the power of protest and that institutional racism can be challenged and changed.
“However, it’s still the case that no police officer in Britain has ever been charged, let alone convicted, for the death of a black person in custody.
“This is because of institutional racism – so we need to keep campaigning.”
She added Stand up to Racism will be joining the Chesterfield May Day march on May 3 to ‘voice our ongoing solidarity with Black Lives Matter and with George Floyd’s legacy’.
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Hide AdAfter the jury deliberated for less than a day, Chauvin was found guilty of all charges – second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter – following a high-profile trial.
Chauvin will remain in jail until he is sentenced.