Tuesday's guilty verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial "can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America," President Joe Biden said in an address from the White House Tuesday night, but added, "such a verdict is also much too rare."
In a televised speech along with Vice President Kamala Harris, Biden described the killing of George Floyd, a Black Man, beneath the knee of Chauvin as "a murder in the full light of day" that "ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism" that "is a stain on our nation's soul."
Biden described the "profound fear and trauma, the pain, the exhaustion that Black and Brown Americans experience every single day."
Chauvin was convicted of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died on Memorial Day 2020 as Chauvin held his knee on his neck for more than nine minutes.
The jury deliberated just 10 hours before reaching its verdict.
"A measure of justice is not the same as equal justice," Harris said before introducing the president. "This verdict brings us a step closer and the fact is we still have work to do. We still must reform the system."
As a member of the Senate, Harris along with Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Karen Bass, D-Calif., introduced the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to hold law enforcement accountable and help build trust between law enforcement and communities.
"This bill is part of George Floyd's legacy," Harris said. "The president and I will continue to urge the Senate to pass this legislation, not as a panacea for every problem, but as a start."
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