Snapshot: The Verdict, "We hugged each other and cried."

A friend emailed me about having gone to George Floyd Square a couple months ago (April 20) to hear the verdict read on the State of Minnesota v. Derek Chauvin.*

She was responding to me saying I was baffled that some people I know in town never went to the memorial site during the year it was blocked off. We live near the epicenter of a piece of history--like being where a giant meteor fell––so that seems a bit odd not to go–– to witness or pay respect or even just to take an historic selfie, "I was there".

I asked my friend if I could share what she wrote--it's such a snapshot of history--and she said yes.

This is what my friend, a white woman, wrote.

 

Re: George Floyd Square

I went a handful of times. Most notably, the day the verdict was read for the Chauvin trial.  It was surreal.

I was getting my first [Covid] vaccine in a huge temporary structure--think an airplane hangar--by the fairgrounds. I was marveling at the military, honestly.

When is a well-organized military good to have?

During a public health crisis, that's when.

I was impressed.

So I was sitting there waiting my fifteen minutes (watching the delightful absurdist play being performed in front of me) when [my teenage daughter] texted and said they would be reading the verdict sometime after 3:30.

I looked at my watch and it was about quarter to 3:00. I lurched up and hustled toward the exit.

A National Guard was by the door--a Black woman.
I said, "The verdict will be read after 3:30."
Her eyes widened behind her mask and we both stared at each other for a moment.
Then I bolted.

You'll remember, of course, how tense it was and how anxious we all were. I know I was. 

I drove directly to George Floyd Square. I called [my daughters] on the way and told them to just stay where they were. Not to leave the house.

I got to the Square right at 3:30 and stood there just paces from where he died. The atmosphere was like nothing I had ever experienced.
Stress, stress, stress in the air.
Waiting, waiting.

Then right before 4:00 there were murmurs and shifting movement and people all started looking at their phones. I remember a group of people were off to my left and they spontaneously all went into a big huddle.
Silent.

Then the convictions started to be released.
People were crying--I was--and praising God.
A woman--a white woman--came up to me and asked if she could hug me. We hugged each other and cried.

Then I left and drove home.

 

____________________

* The State of Minnesota v. Derek Michael Chauvin was a US criminal case in the District Court of Minnesota in which former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was tried for the murder of George Floyd during an arrest on May 25, 2020.

On April 20, 2021, after deliberating for about 10 hours over two days, the jury found Derek Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for the killing of George Floyd.

--via The New York Times