The nation is still reacting after the guilty verdict in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. He was guilty on all counts in the death of George Floyd. Mokah Jasmine Johnson is the president of the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement. She calls the verdict a win, but there is still much to do.
"I will say that it is a victory. It is a victory and a step in the right direction, but we still have a lot of work to be done. Even on the same night of the conviction, there was another shooting in Virginia that the community is unraveling and dealing with. We still have to deal with Daunte Wright's murder and we hope that this continues where officers are being held accountable."
Johnson supports the proposed George Floyd bill. The federal measure addresses policing policies and practices, law enforcement accountability, and discriminatory practices among other issues.
"They've been able to walk away. They've been able to get away and hide behind these laws so we need to be approaching our society in a more restorative form. These officers need to be retrained. We have been using an old model that is punitive, that is more militant, and that was built off of capturing slaves."
Chauvin was found guilty of unintentional Second-Degree Murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter.
