George Floyd’s family received justice for his unlawful murder in 2020, but data shows the shocking reality of police officers facing charges for civilian deaths.
On April 21 2021, Derek Chauvin, 45, was found guilty of the murder of George Floyd. It was a death which caused shockwaves across the World and propelled the Black Lives Matter movement into the spotlight.
While Floyd’s family receive justice, statistics from the 2020 Police Violence report show that Chauvin’s arrest isn’t commonplace.
In 2020, 1,127 people were killed by police in the USA, 96% by police shootings. Only 16 of these deaths resulted in an officer being charged. The report also highlighted that black people were more likely to be killed by police, be unarmed, and less likely to be threatening somewhen when killed in comparison to other nationalities.
In an official statement on the Chauvin trial, US President Joe Biden said: “such a verdict is much too rare… we can and must do more to reduce the likelihood that tragedies like this will ever happen and occur again.”
The case highlights that work is still needed to ensure that all American citizens, particularly people of colour, can live without fear of death from police officers.
President Biden’s official statement- https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/04/20/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-verdict-in-the-derek-chauvin-trial-for-the-death-of-george-floyd/
All data sourced from 2020 Police Violence Report.
Emily Hall (read more from Emily here)
