Derek Chauvin sentenced: "The image is more important than the number of years in prison"
In this audience sketch we see ex-policeman Derek Chauvin being handcuffed after being convicted of the murder of George Floyd after his trial in Minneapolis on April 20, 2021. via REUTERS - JANE ROSENBERG
Text by: Marie Normand Follow |
Mikaël Ponge
4 min
Former white policeman Derek Chauvin was convicted on Tuesday April 20 of the murder of black forty-something George Floyd.
This homicide had become the symbol of police brutality against minorities in the United States.
Interview with Paul Schor, lecturer in American history and civilization at Paris-Diderot University.
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: Is this verdict a turning point
?
Paul Schor:
This legal outcome is an event.
The verdict is very important because it is very rare that a police officer responsible for the death of a black person in the United States is convicted of murder.
Some officers have lost their jobs, but such a clear condemnation is an event.
Many hope this will mark the start of a change.
►
To read also: The former police officer Derek Chauvin found guilty of the "murder" of George Floyd
Derek Chauvin's sentence will not be known for another eight weeks. He faces between 12 and 40 years in prison. Does the number matter
?
The sentence will be heavy anyway, even if it is only 12 years in prison.
Twelve years is very unusual for a police officer in the line of duty.
Moreover, for most of the people who followed the trial in the United States, the image of the policeman being handcuffed in court and going straight to jail counts for more than the sentence that will be handed down in a few. weeks.
The President and Vice President telephoned the family of George Floyd on Tuesday. Are the political expectations huge?
Joe Biden won the primary thanks to his
popularity
among the African American electorate.
Rather, it is the others who will have to be convinced, in particular a section of white Americans.
It is very interesting that he spoke so clearly, much more than any president before him.
It is quite unusual.
►
To read also: "I will be the president of all Americans": Joe Biden calls America for unity
The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act was passed by the House of Representatives without the votes of Republicans. This text is now before the Senate. What is he proposing and does he have a chance of being voted on?
The text proposes in particular to generalize the practice of cameras worn by the police at the time of arrests. It would also call into question the very high immunity they enjoy. It would be easier to prosecute and convict them. Many trials to date have ended with acquittals. The text would also create a national register of police officers dismissed for ill-treatment. Police in the United States are very decentralized, from municipal police to county police. Often times, when a police officer is fired, he or she is hired by another police department.
The problem Joe Biden faces is his very narrow majority in the Senate.
The police have also become a partisan political issue.
Only a part of Democrats are in favor of
reform
, and all Republicans are opposed to it, unlike the days of the civil rights struggle in the 1960s when a majority of both parties agreed to vote for it. major reforms.
So perhaps this law will pass through the Senate, that would be an important step.
But that will not be enough to transform the culture of policing in the United States.
► Also to listen:
USA: after George Floyd, is another police possible?
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