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Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (in January)
Photo: Evan Vucci / dpa
In an initial response to the guilty verdict against ex-police officer Derek Chauvin in the trial for the killing of the African American George Floyd, US President
Joe Biden has
spoken out.
"We're all so relieved," he said in a phone call with the Floyds family that their lawyer made public.
"It's really important." At the same time, Biden promised measures to combat police violence against black people - and jokingly offered the family the prospect of inviting them to Washington on board the presidential plane, Air Force One.
Vice President
Kamala Harris also
participated in
the call
.
"This is a day of justice in America," said the country's first black vice president.
History will "look back on this moment".
Former US President
Barack Obama
called for profound rethinking and reforms.
"True justice requires that we understand the fact that black Americans are treated differently, every day," said Obama on Tuesday (local time) on behalf of his wife Michelle.
"We must acknowledge that millions of our friends, family and fellow citizens live in fear that their next encounter with the police will be their last."
Concrete reforms are needed to reduce and ultimately eliminate inequality in the criminal justice system.
"Today's judgment may have been a necessary step on the way to progress, but it is far from sufficient." True justice is about much more than a single judgment in a single process.
"Still a lot of work to do"
Even
Hillary Clinton
, the Obama administration foreign minister and former presidential candidate of the Democrats, commented: "George Floyd's family and her community have earned, that the killer is brought to justice.
It happened today.
Forever: ›Black Lives Matter‹. «
George Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd
has expressed relief at the guilty verdict.
"Justice to George means freedom for all," he said.
"Today we can breathe again." George Floyd's words shortly before his death - "I Can't Breathe" - have become the epitome of police violence and racism in the United States.
Philonise Floyd said the fight against injustice continues.
After the guilty verdict, he hoped that he could sleep again.
He and other family members of George Floyd thanked their supporters and remembered other victims of racism and police violence.
Adam Silver
, head of the US basketball league NBA, said, “The murder of George Floyd highlighted the way we look at race and justice in this country.
We are glad that justice is now being established.
But we also see that there is still a lot of work to be done (...). "
The
American Civil Liberties Union
, a civil rights NGO, also looks to the future with caution: “For the first time in the history of the state of Minnesota, a white police officer has been held responsible for the killing of a black man.
Today may be a small achievement for the police's responsibilities.
Maybe he is also helping a grieving community.
But the systems that made George's murder possible - that tore him away from the family and community that loved him so much - remain completely intact. "
jok / dpa
