San Francisco Mayor London Breed, the Oakland Police Department (OPD) and the Greenlining Institute President and CEO Debra Gore-Mann issued statements in reaction to Tuesday’s triple guilty verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin, ex-Minneapolis police officer for killing George Floyd in May, 2020.

Mayor London Breed’s statement:

“This verdict does not bring back the life of George Floyd. It can’t replace the years of his life that were robbed from him, nor the life experiences and memories that would have been made with his friends and family. What this verdict does reflect is that the tide is turning in this country, although still too slowly, toward accountability and justice.

Almost 11 months ago, the world watched as Officer Derek Chauvin kept his knee on the back of George Floyd’s neck. He kept it there for eight minutes and 46 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The systemic injustice from hundreds of years of racism and mistreatment of Black Americans was put into plain view on video, and the country and the world erupted in protest.

While we’re now months removed from the height of those protests, the need for action is as critical as ever. This is about more than prosecuting the officer who killed George Floyd, though that is an important step. It’s about fundamentally restructuring how policing is done to move away from the use of excessive force. It’s about shifting responses to non-violent calls away from an automatic police response to something better equipped to handle the situation. It’s about reinvesting in communities in which years of systematic disinvestment has made it nearly impossible for people to thrive. It’s about changing who we are as a country.

That’s what we’re trying to do in San Francisco. Our Street Crisis Response Teams, consisting of paramedics and behavioral health specialists, are now often the first responders to non-violent 911 calls relating to mental health and substance use. 

Our Dream Keeper Initiative is redirecting $120 million to improve the lives of Black youth and their families through investments in everything from housing, to healthcare, to workforce training and guaranteed income. And our sustained, multi-year efforts to reform our police department has resulted in a 57% reduction in instances of use of force and a 45% decrease in officer-involved shootings since 2016.

While this tragedy can never be undone, what we can do is finally make real change in the name of George Floyd. Nothing we can do will bring him back, but we can do the work to prevent others from facing his fate in the future. That is the work we need to do. It’s ongoing, it’s challenging, but if we are committed, we can make a real and lasting difference in this country.”

OPD Statement 

We all must recognize that this moment is about accountability, justice, and reform. We must be compassionate, empathic, and forgiving, the Oakland Police Department declared in a statement released on Tuesday. 

All sides must unite as one community to effectively communicate. Together we will work towards rethinking policing in America. 

In unity, we will move towards finding solutions for the safety of all people, notwithstanding your age, race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability. 

We stand as one community grieving and healing as we move towards finding real solutions to effect change as we seek to strengthen police and community relations. 

We extend our deepest condolences to George Floyd’s family and all communities. 

Greenlining Institute President and CEO Debra Gore-Mann:

“Today, we experienced a small measure of justice as Derek Chauvin was convicted and the killing of George Floyd was recognized as the criminal act it was. But we shouldn’t fool ourselves into thinking that one conviction of one cop for a killing the whole world witnessed on video will change a fundamentally racist and dysfunctional system. The whole law enforcement system must be rethought and rebuilt from the ground up so that there are no more George Floyds, Daunte Wrights and Adam Toledos. But even that is just a start.

“Policing doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Systemic racism exists in policing because systemic racism exists in America. We must fundamentally uproot the disease of racism in our society and create a transformative path forward.” 

Former policeman Derek Chauvin was found guilty Tuesday of all three counts of murder brought against him in the death of George Floyd, whose cruel death was caught on video in Minneapolis, Minn., on Memorial Day weekend last year.

Floyd, 46, was killed May 25, 2020, in front of Cup Foods, a neighborhood grocery store where the police had been called because Floyd had allegedly used a counterfeit bill to make a purchase.

After deliberating for about 10 hours over two days, the jury returned a verdict of guilty for second-degree involuntary murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. Chauvin faces a maximum of 40 years in prison.

Floyd’s 41-year-old brother Philonise was in the Minneapolis courthouse at the time of the verdict, brought by six white, four Black and two multiracial jurors.

Post News Group Publisher Paul Cobb said of the verdict: “Darnella Frazier’s video action should be imitated and celebrated by all youth and adults nationwide.  We should defend (Oakland Police Chief) LeRonne Armstrong’s new policies to stop minor traffic stops around licenses, lights and so-called suspicious appearances. (I) hope this justice action causes a national voting movement of every Black, Brown and Asian citizen.  Demand our (future) Attorney General Bonta to take the same action that Minnesota Attorney General Ellison did.

It is time for President Biden and Vice-President Harris to push through the George Floyd Justice bill.  We, as bystanders, should also bear witness.”

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf told the Post: “today’s verdict is a just one, and it’s also an indictment.  The deep structural racism that pervades our country—and leads to the state-sponsored murder of Black men like George Floyd and too many others—must end.  Juries shouldn’t have to tell us this.”

Oakland Vice Mayor Rebecca Kaplan quoted Martin Luther King, Jr., when she talked to the Post about the verdict.  “’Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream,” she said.

“Though we understand that this is a victory for the people, we also understand that this system of policing will continue to cause violence and death until it is dismantled” said James Burch, policy director for the Anti-Police Terror Project.

The Oakland Police Department issued this statement:

We all must recognize that this moment is about accountability, justice, and reform. We must be compassionate, empathic, and forgiving.

All sides must unite as one community to effectively communicate. Together we will work towards rethinking policing in America.

In unity, we will move towards finding solutions for the safety of all people, notwithstanding your age, race, religion, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or disability.

We stand as one community grieving and healing as we move towards finding real solutions to effect change as we seek to strengthen police and community relations.

We extend our deepest condolences to George Floyd’s family and all communities.

Sentencing is scheduled in eight weeks.  His bail revoked, Chauvin was handcuffed and remanded into custody immediately.