Rev. Al Sharpton claimed the three former Minneapolis police officers charged in connection to George Floyd‘s death are “guilty” during a Sunday rally commemorating the nearly one-year anniversary of the 42-year-old black man’s death.
Sharpton, who spoke alongside civil rights attorney Ben Crump and Floyd’s sister Bridgett Floyd, among others, insisted that protesters should be present at the sentencing of Derek Chauvin, the disgraced officer who was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. The reverend also called on the crowd to rekindle demonstrations ahead of the trial of J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane, and Tou Thao, who have all been jailed for allegedly aiding and abetting the killing of Floyd.
“We gonna be in Minneapolis for the sentencing of Mr. Chauvin because we gonna make sure that the time meets the crime,” he said, adding that protesters should not accept “minimum time.”
VIDEO SHOWS MAN TRASHING GEORGE FLOYD ‘AUTONOMOUS’ ZONE
“And we’ll be back for the trial of the other three because they’re all equally guilty, and we’ll be back for the federal time for the charges that have been brought,” Sharpton added regarding the proceedings, which have been pushed back to March 2022.
George Floyd Other Officers
Sharpton’s comments may raise questions about potential bias issues in the trial of the three officers, who were present when Floyd died outside a Cup Foods store on May 25, 2020. Similar issues arose in the trial of Chauvin when prominent leaders, such as California Rep. Maxine Waters, prematurely suggested Chauvin was guilty and called for violence if the proceedings yielded an innocent verdict. Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, has filed a motion for a new trial.
Sharpton also took the time to slam Congress for inaction pertaining to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would make it easier to charge law enforcement officers with federal misconduct, grant the Justice Department the ability to take the reins on police department investigations, and limit the use of qualified immunity as a defense for officers, as it usually acts as a barrier to prosecution.
“Convicting Chauvin is not enough,” he said. “We need federal legislation. It was historic to see a white police officer, for the first time, be convicted for killing a black man. That is nothing to brag about. That’s something that’s shameful.”
Crump, who spoke prior to Sharpton, slammed law enforcement for taking white “mass murderers” into custody while killing black men who are supposedly running away from authorities. He faulted policing issues on “implicit bias” and “racism.”
“What is it about a black man running away from the police that is the most dangerous thing in America? I mean, you have young white men who are confirmed mass murderers, and yet the police can take them alive,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The issue ain’t a lack of training, ain’t a lack of professionalism. The issue is implicit bias, the issue is racism, the issue is discrimination,” Crump added.
Floyd’s death sparked a wave of protests, riots, and looting episodes throughout the United States last summer. Violence was rekindled following the death of Daunte Wright, a black man who was shot and killed after former Brooklyn Center police officer Kim Potter allegedly mistook her Taser for a gun and shot him on April 11.
