WASHINGTON (AP) â President Joe Biden said the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin in the killing of George Floyd âcan be a giant step forwardâ for the nation in the fight against systemic racism. But he declared that âitâs not enough.â
Click here to watch President Biden's comments
Biden spoke Tuesday from the White House hours after the verdict alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, with the pair saying the countryâs work is far from finished with the verdict.
âWe canât stop here,â Biden declared.
Biden and Harris called on Congress to act swiftly to address policing reform, including by approving a bill named for Floyd, who died with his neck under Chauvinâs knee last May. Beyond that, the president said, the entire country must confront hatred to âchange hearts and minds as well as laws and policies.â
ââI canât breathe.â Those were George Floydâs last words,â Biden said. âWe canât let those words die with him. We have to keep hearing those words. We must not turn away. We canât turn away.â
Harris, the first Black woman to serve as vice president, said racism was keeping the country from fulfilling its founding promise of âliberty and justice for all.â
âIt is not just a Black America problem or a people of color problem. it is a problem for every American,â she said. âIt is holding our nation back from reaching our full potential.â
âA measure of justice isnât the same as equal justice,â she said.
Biden addressed the nation after telephoning Floydâs family following the verdict, telling them, âWeâre all so relieved.â He added later that he sought to comfort Floydâs young daughter Gianna, telling her, âDaddy did change the world.â
After about 10 hours of deliberations over two days, the jury convicted Chauvin of two counts of murder and one of manslaughte r.
The verdict â and the aftermath â will be a continuing test for Biden. He has pledged to help combat racism in policing, helping African Americans who supported him in large numbers in last yearâs election in the wake of protests that swept the nation after Floydâs death and restarted a national conversation about race. But he also has long projected himself as an ally of police, who are struggling with criticism about long-used tactics and training methods and difficulties in recruitment.
Earlier Tuesday, Biden broke his administrationâs silence on the trial, which has set the nation on edge for weeks, saying he was praying for âthe right verdict.â
Speaking from the Oval Office while the jury was deliberating in Minneapolis, Biden said, âIâm praying the verdict is the right verdict. I think itâs overwhelming, in my view. I wouldnât say that unless the jury was sequestered now.â
The president had repeatedly denounced Floydâs death but had previously stopped short of weighing in on Chauvinâs trial, with White House officials saying it would be improper to speak out during active judicial proceedings. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki repeatedly refused to explain Bidenâs comments, doing nothing to dispel the impression that he thought Chauvin should be found guilty.
The White House had been privately weighing how to handle the verdict, dispatching specially trained community facilitators from the Justice Department in anticipation of potential protests, officials said. With word that a verdict had been reached Tuesday afternoon, Biden postponed planned remarks at the White House on his infrastructure package.
On Monday, Judge Peter Cahill, who presided over the trial, admonished public officials about speaking out while the trial was ongoing.
âI wish elected officials would stop talking about this case, especially in a manner thatâs disrespectful to the rule of law and to the judicial branch and our function,â he said shortly after sending the jury to begin deliberations.
Defense attorneys often cite remarks made by public officials as a reason to appeal a verdict, in part because they could poison the jury against the defendant.
Cahill delivered his rebuke after rejecting a defense request for a mistrial based in part on comments from California Rep. Maxine Waters, who said âweâve got to get more confrontationalâ if Chauvin isnât convicted of murder. He conceded to Chauvinâs attorneys that Watersâ comments could potentially be grounds for an appeal.
On Monday, Cahill ordered that jurors be sequestered in an undisclosed hotel during their deliberations and instructed them to avoid all news about the case.
Despite Cahillâs remarks, Brock Hunter, a criminal defense attorney and past president of the Minnesota Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he considered a successful appeal over remarks like Watersâ and Bidenâs extremely unlikely.
âItâs inevitable that public officials are going to comment on a case and its impacts on communities,â he said. âUnless there is direct evidence that statements by a public official directly impacted a juror or jurors, I donât think this even gets off the ground.â
On Capitol Hill, Republicans as well as Democrats said they were relived at the verdict and predicted it could give momentum to policing reform legislation that has been proposed in both the House and Senate.
âI think the verdict just reinforces that our justice system continues to become more just,â said Tim Scott of South Carolina, the only Black Republican senator. âThis is a monumental day in many ways, in my opinion.â
The Congressional Black Caucus watched the verdict together in the Capitol, and members hugged and fist pumped after the verdict was read.
âThe room was filled with emotion and gratitude,â said Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson. âBlack lives mattered to this jury. And Iâm very gratified at the verdict, very happy at the swiftness of the verdict. ... Itâs a vindication of justice in America.â
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined the Black Caucus shortly afterward at a news conference outside, where she said she had spoken to Floydâs family just before the verdict. She said she called âto say to them, âThank you, God bless you, for your grace and your dignity, for the model that you are appealing for justice in the most dignified way.ââ
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