George Floyd's family has called for the last time this Sunday for justice to be done for the death of the African American before the trial against former police officer Derek Chauvin, accused of murder, begins on Monday.
At a nightly vigil held in a rather festive atmosphere in a Baptist church south of Minneapolis, the brothers of the symbol of the racial movement urged to reform the police and entrusted themselves to God between chants and euphoric speeches.
"The criminal justice system will be tried tomorrow," said Reverend Al Sharpton.
"Chauvin is in the courtroom, but the United States is on trial," he added.
The three degrees of temperature this Sunday night did not prevent dozens of activists and neighbors from approaching the Greater Friendship Missionary church and lining up outside to enter.
Ben Crump, the attorney for the Floyd family, called the trial that holds the city with special security "a referendum" on how far the African-American community has come in its "quest for equality."
Although he made it clear that even if Chauvin is convicted, he is not going to bring George Floyd back to life.
"It can restore hope in a system that should include all citizens," said the lawyer.
In mid-March the Minneapolis City Council agreed to pay $ 27 million to Floyd's family.
The vigil before the trial for the murder of George Floyd, this Sunday in a Baptist church south of Minneapolis Antonia Laborde
Derek Chauvin, 44, faces charges of murder in the second degree, murder in the third degree and murder in the second degree and risks a maximum of 41.5 years in prison.
Philonise Floyd, brother of who has become a martyr of the Black Lives Matter movement, urged tonight amid cries of support about the need to end police immunity and end “the two judicial systems, the one for whites and the one for blacks ”.
"Give me a sentence, give the world what it wants to see," he said, appealing to the sentence that the jury will have to define in the midst of a very high expectation.
For the first time in Minnesota, the trial will be broadcast live.
The Reverend Sharpton referred to the number of deaths at the hands of the police where the officers involved were not charged with a crime, such as the case of Eric Garner in New York, whose mother was among those present tonight.
The activist remarked that not only does the trial against Chauvin begin on Monday, but also an opportunity for the United States to hold the police accountable for their bad practices.
Half an hour from the Baptist church where the vigil took place, dozens of protesters gathered in the self-described George Floyd Square, located at the intersection where the African-American lost consciousness under Chauvin's knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds. .
The organizers had 500 candles, but no more than twenty people came to pay tribute to the powerful memorial full of protest signs about the black community, decorated with flowers and stuffed animals since last May 25.
That's where George Floyd's six-year-old daughter said "Daddy changed the world."
This Monday begins the trial that will determine if the way the judicial system operates has changed.
