Derek Chauvin was sentenced to 270 months in prison. On April 23rd, he went before the court to get a retrial because his defense team felt that because of his sentence and the safety of the jurors, he deserved a reconviction. A retrial. He is essentially trying to prove his innocence. The reason why he didn’t get acquitted the first time was because people saw that he was caught red-handed killing an innocent African American in front of children. George Floyd’s family will never see him again. During the traffic stop, people repeatedly told Chauvin to “get off of [Floyd],” but he did not listen. Chauvin should not attempt to use the victim card because I believe he is a murderer.

Chauvin can try to downplay it all he wants, but the truth is that there is too much evidence that people cannot ignore. He has to be taught a lesson and be used as an example of the violent actions of police officers towards black people. Now the roles are reversed, he did take a life. A black life. It doesn’t matter if it was racially motivated or not. He is a white police officer who took the life of a black citizen. That is white on black crime, and that is police brutality.

Many people don’t understand what African Americans go through on a day-to-day basis. White people think we use race as some pathetic guilt card. However, I use race as a way to get white people to open their eyes. People blame the victim who never asked to be a victim in the first place. 

How can someone have the audacity to go behind a court and appeal. Chauvin said there was pressure. George Floyd’s family is one of the lucky ones. They finally got the justice that many others didn’t. He wants to take that away since he and his lawyers are only doing this because they got caught. This is a new generation in which people use phones to document proof of evidence. We are learning from past mistakes like Sandra Bland and now, we can determine whether we have enough evidence to begin a trial and potentially convict someone. For years, I believe that the system has failed us. It is time that ends now. Chauvin won’t get away with this. I believe that Derek Chauvin is a crimnal and a murderer and he deserves to be in jail forever. If we learned anything this year, it is that everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions. It is 2022. We need to do better as a society. 

“If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

― Toni Morrison