A jury has found former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin guilty on all charges in the murder of George Floyd.
Carol Rose, executive director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, released the following statement in response:
“Today’s conviction of Derek Chauvin sends the message that police violence against people of color must end. While this verdict brings rare accountability for police, achieving this outcome for George Floyd is only one step in addressing police abuse of power, disparate treatment, and excessive force against Black and Brown communities.
“Here in Massachusetts, the ACLU will continue to fight for racial justice in George Floyd’s name. We must prohibit police mistreatment of communities of color—like biased surveillance and disparate traffic stops, which lead to people being both underserved and overpoliced. We must divert state and municipal funding from traditional policing toward community-based services like mental health crisis teams, so all communities are truly safe. And we must increase accountability and transparency, including by collecting and publishing statewide racial profiling data. We will not end police violence until we end policing as usual.”
