WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden called the guilty verdict in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin “basic accountability,” as he addressed the nation Tuesday night, hours after Chauvin was found guilty on three counts in the murder of George Floyd.
“It was a murder in full light of day and it ripped the blinders off for the whole world to see the systemic racism the vice president just referred to,” Biden began, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris, who spoke earlier.
Biden commented on the protests stemming from Floyd’s death, saying he hadn’t seen anything like it since “the Civil Rights era in the 1960s.”
He called the guilty verdict “a step forward,” and acknowledged the pain of Floyd’s family.
“Nothing can ever bring their brother, their father back,” he said, “But this can be a giant step forward in the march toward justice in America.”
“Let’s also be clear that such a verdict is also much too rare,” he continued.
Biden then acknowledged that “most men and women that wear the badge serve their communities honorably, but those who fail to meet that standard must be held accountable. No one should be above the law. And today’s verdict sends that message.”
“But it’s not enough. It can’t stop here.”
Biden advocated for social justice reform and a bill currently in Congress that seeks to reform policing.
“The guilty verdict does not bring back George,” Biden concluded. “But through the family’s pain they’re finding purpose, so George’s legacy will not just be about his death but what we must do in his memory.”