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'We've heard all the evidence' | Toledo activist, lawyer reflect on Chauvin trial as jury begins deliberation

Neither believes that a conviction would cause the amount of change that some activists want to see.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Deliberation began Monday evening in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Chauvin is charged with second-degree and third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd, which occurred nearly a year ago. Bystander video and police bodycam footage showed the former officer kneeling on Floyd for nine minutes and 29 seconds.

Attorney and University of Toledo law professor, RaShya Ghee, has been following the case closely. 

As Ghee watched the Derrick Chauvin murder trial unfold, she saw something different from high-profile cases in the past. When Mike Brown and Eric Garner died, she didn't see police officers testify against one another.

"We know that there is this code of silence that has characterized policing and that's very much on trial as much as Mr. Chauvin is," Ghee said.

Ghee said she believes the decision by the jury in the Derrick Chauvin murder trial will be pivotal for the future of police reform.

"I just want to make sure that people don't believe a conviction is the pinnacle of the justice we seek," she said.

Toledo activist Brother Washington Muhammad has been taking the pulse of the Black community as the trial unfolds.

"A lot of us in the Black community in Toledo as a whole, we're watching, we've heard all the evidence, we saw the tape, we saw almost 10 minutes of a murder happening in real-time," Muhammad said.

Muhammad said this case has huge implications for police reform in the Toledo area.

However, neither he nor Ghee said they believe it will be enough to spark all the change some activists hope to see.

"Our problems are much, much, much bigger than one police officer or one police department, than any other additional death, than any additional entity," Ghee said.

Ghee plans to continue this conversation with her students both at the University of Toledo and also in a class she's teaching virtually in Minneapolis.

    

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