‘This is one step on a long journey,’ Inslee says amid reactions to Chauvin convictions
Washington state officials reacted strongly Tuesday to the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in his killing of George Floyd.
Floyd’s death after more than nine minutes under Chauvin’s knee last summer spurred protests and calls for racial justice and police reform in Washington state and across the country. The former officer’s trial has held the nation’s rapt attention in recent weeks.
In a statement after the jury returned its guilty verdict, Gov. Jay Inslee spoke of wider implications, saying Floyd’s death was “more than the death of one person,” and a “trauma for George Floyd’s family, his children, the bystanders and indeed the entire nation.”
“Weary families in so many communities, traumatized from images of brutality against Black and Brown and feeling no power to stop it, can take heart today that justice was served in this instance,” the statement reads. “Yet, there is still much work to do. This is one step on a long journey we are just beginning.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal was among other statewide elected officials who released statements. Reykdal expressed a similar sentiment: that the verdict brings “hope for the future,” but there is work to do.
“This trial – likely the most high-profile police brutality trial in decades — was about the power, privilege, and disregard for human life exhibited by one person,” the statement reads in part. “This trial was about whether an officer crossed the line, but let’s be clear: that line is so misaligned with actual justice that the lines themselves need to be on trial.”
Reykdal’s statement includes his office’s commitment to “dismantling systemic barriers to result in disparate outcomes for BIPOC students” in the state and work it’s doing in K-12 schools.
“Our children are watching, and we owe it to them to be fully committed to equity and justice every day,” it concludes. Reykdal’s office today also posted a list online with links to resources for talking to children about the verdict, racism and police violence.
Some of Washington’s representatives in U.S. Congress took to Twitter with their reactions, including Reps. Pramila Jayapal, Derek Kilmer, Marilyn Strickland, and Suzan DelBene and Sen. Patty Murray.
“This is a day of reckoning,” one of Jayapal’s tweets reads. “But we can’t rest here. There are more verdicts to be delivered and our work to move forward is far from finished. We must put an end to police brutality, racism, and white supremacy. We can’t just say Black lives matter—we must fight for Black lives.”
In his statement, the governor went on to say:
“Today is a day for all to recommit themselves to a more perfect union, in their communities and in our nation. Let this be the beginning of progress rather than the end of one trial. Today’s sense of relief for some is fleeting. They know more must be done to prevent this from happening again and again. Too many live with this uncertainty. We must end systemic racism.”
He mentioned several specific efforts in the state legislature to reform policing in Washington. Among the bills still in play this session is one to set a statewide baseline for police tactics and equipment, in part banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants.
Another would establish a duty of reasonable care for police officers who use force, and another would expand the ability of the state to decertify officers and the reasons for which that can happen. Lawmakers have sent bills to the governor’s desk that would create a statewide use-of-force data program and an office to investigate incidents when officers use deadly force.
The state Senate met shortly after the verdict in Chauvin’s trial was released and sent another police accountability bill to Inslee’s desk: It would require an officer to intervene if they witness another officer using excessive force, and to tell a supervisor if they observe wrongdoing by another officer.
The Chauvin verdict was not mentioned in the debate before the Senate voted to concur with amendments made to the bill in the House, granting the bill lawmakers’ final approval. But, the connection had been drawn previously.
“When I watched the video of the killing of George Floyd, I saw officers aside from Derek Chauvin standing by, protecting Derek Chauvin while he was choking the life out of George Floyd,” Rep. Jesse Salomon of Shoreline said during debate on the bill in February. “And I saw in the video members of the public who were all around, asking, begging, to have them stop.”
Clear rules necessitating intervention may help solve the problem “so horribly displayed and tragically displayed” in Floyd’s death, Salomon said.
The state Senate’s eight-member Members of Color Caucus released a statement Tuesday afternoon, saying they will continue to write laws aimed at accountability and transparency in policing.
“Words cannot undo the deep wound that George Floyd’s murder left in his family, in his community, in Black communities here in our state and across the nation,” it reads, in part. “They cannot undo the actions of the man who ended his life. They cannot erase the history of racism and racial violence that blinded that man to George Floyd’s humanity, and gave him such a sense of impunity that he believed he could snuff out another person’s life without consequences.
“But today: George Floyd’s killer did face consequences. We use our words now to commend this outcome — a just verdict and rare accountability, for George Floyd’s loved ones and Black Americans in our state and country — but also to reiterate our commitment to making sure that justice is not rare.”
In a statement Tuesday evening, the nine-member Black Members Caucus expressed hope the verdict would bring the Floyd family some peace and that the verdict should “only add to the growing momentum for change.”
“It is not lost on us that Manuel Ellis’ family is still waiting for justice,” the statement reads. It goes on to mention other victims of police violence in Washington by name.
“It is not lost on us that it took a video from Minnesota to spark change in Olympia. It is not lost on us that a guilty verdict in Minnesota will not bring George Floyd back, just like legislation in Olympia will not bring back Manuel Ellis or Charleena Lyles or Tommy Le or Stonechild Chiefstick or Giovann Joseph McDade or Leonard Thomas or Said Joquin or Jesse Sarey or Carlos Hunter or Jenoah Donald or Che Taylor or Renee Davis.”
Rep. Jesse Johnson of Federal Way, who has been key to the work behind police accountability bills this session, on Tuesday afternoon tweeted a photo of a demonstration, saying “This is what led us to a guilty verdict today.”
“While 2020 revealed what America still is, 2021 is a compass for what America can be,” Johnson tweeted. “This is not just a moment, but a movement.”
Sen. T’wina Nobles of Fircrest, prime sponsor of the data collection bill, similarly celebrated on Twitter, equating the verdict with justice.
While leaders of the Senate and House Republican caucuses did not issue public statements, McClatchy asked in a press conference Wednesday if they had a response and what it might mean for their work in Washington state.
“I would say that the positive thing that happened yesterday was a jury of American citizens unanimously came to a verdict. It wasn’t politicians deciding, it wasn’t Twitter, it wasn’t press,” said House Minority Leader J.T. Wilcox of Yelm. “ ... And if we’ve had any ray of hope, I think, in this arena it’s the fact that the process ... that has been handed down to us can be this effective under this kind of stress. That is such good news. And I think in this case the process restored hope for a lot of people.”
Senate Minority Leader John Braun of Centralia echoed Wilcox’s word, emphasizing the justice system handling the case.
Inslee’s statement addressed the many issues that still need to be addressed as the state addresses racial justice.
“Our communities will not be at peace until everyone feels secure to do the most basic things,” the statement reads.
“I’m talking about the right to vote. Or the right to get in the car and drive anywhere safely without fear of being killed. To walk down any street in America or go shopping at the department store without being selectively followed. To work regardless of what your hair or skin color looks like. To rent or buy a house in the neighborhood of your choice, or to get an insurance policy without being asked for a credit score. These ordinary activities must be available to all.
“We must remain proactive – from those of us in elected office to those providing services in our agencies – to turn the tide of injustice. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said ‘the moral arc of the universe’ bends toward justice, and it takes all of us to usher it into existence.”
This story has been updated as more statements were issued.
This story was originally published April 20, 2021 at 4:30 PM with the headline "‘This is one step on a long journey,’ Inslee says amid reactions to Chauvin convictions."
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