SEATTLE, WA – In response to the conviction of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of Georg Floyd, Alliance for Gun Responsibility CEO Renée Hopkins issued the following statement. 

“For the first time in Minnesota state history, a white police officer has been held accountable for killing a Black man. This verdict represents an important step on the road to a safer, more just future. But the fact that so much of the country feels relief and surprise at today’s verdict, in a case with evidence as incontrovertible as that brought against Chauvin, speaks to how much work we have left to do. 

In the days since testimony in Chauvin’s trial began, police have killed at least 64 people. Two of their names, Daunte Wright and Adam Toledo, have been added to a tragic list we know too well: Breonna Taylor, Rayshard Brooks, Daniel Prude, Atatiana Jefferson, Stephon Clark, Botham Jean, Alton Sterling, Tony McDade, Philando Castile, Freddie Gray, and so many more. The others join the hundreds of people killed by police each year who never make national news. Accountability is all too rare.

This verdict is welcome, but it alone is not justice. It does not bring George Floyd back. It does not undo the pain his loved ones suffered nor the trauma our country endured. It does not mean the work is done. But it proves that progress is possible. We lift up the activists and advocates who have fought relentlessly to dismantle white supremacy and build a future that truly values Black lives. In the wake of Floyd’s murder, millions of us joined that fight. Now, we fight on.”

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