It’s not just random acts of cruelty

Even if I am far from celebrating, I share the prevailing view this evening that Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer, deserved the jury’s verdict : guilty of killing George Floyd unintentionally (second degree murder) and negligently (third degree murder) while acting dangerously (third degree manslaughter). I might even wonder if he wasn’t guilty of intentional killing, but I have seen no evidence of the premeditation or malice aforethought required for a first degree murder convictiton. I can make a good guess, but it is hard to prove what was going through Chauvin’s head as he squeezed the life out of George Floyd despite the protests and videos of bystanders.

This entirely justified verdict in no way ends the story of police abuse against Black people in America. Most police killings are the result of a split-second decision to fire a gun, not a prolonged act of blatantly negligent and dangerous violence. Yes, the thin blue line’s protection for Chauvin was broken in this trial, as the police chief and other colleagues testified against him. But that isn’t likely to happen even in the trial of the Chicago policeman who killed 13-year-old Adam Toledo fearing he had a gun when he wasn’t holding a gun. Or the Brooklyn Center policewoman who claims to have mistaken her gun for a Taser in killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. Those will be much more difficult cases to prosecute.

Even the Chauvin story is not yet complete, as he will appeal. The appeals will take many months, if not years. There is always the possibility a judge will overturn the conviction. No trial is without some decisions by the judge that can raise questions in a higher court. At every stage, Chauvin’s lawyers will seek to put George Floyd on trial. He tried to use a counterfeit bill. He was not healthy. He took drugs. He resisted arrest.

So the Chauvin verdict is at best the start of something, not the end of it. Chauvin will be battling for his freedom and maligning Floyd for a long time to come. He’ll get a lot of support from other police officers and their unions in doing so. While I might find it hard to fathom, some right-wing politicians may also come to his aid, hoping thereby to reinforce their “law and order” reputations, which are exclusively directed against minorities. Remember: Donald Trump suffered no political damage with the right after he advocated the death penalty for five men convicted of rape who turned out to be innocent of the charges. Racists will have no fear of taking up Chauvin’s cause.

Those who want to see something done about police abuses still have a high wall of doubt to climb. Won’t convicting police discourage them from taking vigorous action against miscreants? Don’t the police need to be ready to meet violence with violence? Won’t finding them guilty in court discourage good people from seeking police jobs? Don’t law-abiding citizens need to support the police in all but the most egregious cases? How can you question a split second decision to fire at someone who may otherwise kill a police officer?

Those are all real concerns. But what Americans need to understand is that police abuse is not just the occasional random act of cruelty or excess. It is standard practice that targets minorities, especially Black and LatinX people. Chauvin will be genuinely surprised that he was not only charged but convicted for something that happens every day. We are talking about discriminatory violence that only rarely strikes white privilege, mainly by mistake. Systemic racism is real racism. No single trial is going to end it.