Observatory: The "Freud" tragedy does not end with a single verdict

Source: People's Daily News

"Guilty!" On April 20, local time, the former white police officer Drake Shawan was charged with the murder of African-American man George Floyd, and was sentenced in Minneapolis, Minnesota, THE United States: Shawan's second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter were all convicted.

The picture of Xiao Wan wearing handcuffs on his back and leaving under the escort of the prison guards has made many people sad and happy. Happily, "we can finally breathe again", Shawan paid the price for his "murder in broad daylight". Sadly, this verdict came too slowly and too hard.

On May 25 last year, Freud was kneeled by Shawan and pressed to his neck for 9 minutes and 29 seconds, repeatedly begging "I can't breathe" without success, and died after falling unconscious. Later, after nearly a year of long struggle and a 3-week trial, it finally waited for the just verdict to be pronounced.

This verdict was not easy to come by. Even if there is sufficient and conclusive evidence, even if there is the testimony of Chauvin's former leaders and colleagues, even if there are Freud's relatives and friends crying in front of the camera over and over again, even if there is a long-term, large-scale anti-violent law enforcement and anti-racial discrimination activities that have swept the United States and even other countries, no one dares to have 100 percent confidence at the moment before the verdict is pronounced. Because the historical record is too bleak.

Police brutality is prevalent in the United States. According to a study by Bowling Green University in Ohio State, from 2005 to 2019, U.S. police officers shot nearly 1,000 people each year in the course of law enforcement, of which 104 officers were arrested and charged with murder or manslaughter for shooting while on duty, but only 35 were found guilty.

People of color are frequently subjected to police brutality. People of color, including African Americans, are exposed to alarmingly high rates of police brutality. As the U.S. leader put it: Floyd's death showed the world that systemic racism is a "stain on the soul" of the United States, a knee that weighs on the neck of African Americans' demand for justice.

Xiao Wan's conviction was widely hailed by the mainstream media in the United States: This is a "turning point in history" for the United States to hold law enforcement personnel accountable, and it is a "historic moment" of "great significance."

However, in addition to cheering and tears, more people are worried that the verdict in the Floyd case is not the end, but a starting point, to completely solve the problem of police violence in the United States and racial discrimination in the United States.

Facts also confirm that this fear is by no means unfounded. Half an hour before Floyd's sentencing, an African-American girl in Columbus, Ohio, was shot and killed by police. According to U.S. media statistics, in the 21 days of floyd's trial, 63 people were shot dead by the police, the vast majority of whom were people of color.

Today, the George Floyd Law Enforcement Justice Act to prevent police misconduct has been submitted to the United States Senate. The bill aims to prevent police misconduct, including the prohibition of the use of "choking the throat", "strangling the neck", etc., prohibiting forced entry, and also including the establishment of a national police misconduct registry and the removal of conditional immunity from law enforcement personnel. However, the House passed a similar version of the bill last year, but failed to pass it in the Republican-controlled Senate. This time, Senate Democrats still need to convince at least 10 Republican lawmakers to get the bill passed.

It can be seen that the stubbornness of racism in the United States, the division of bipartisan politics, and the difficulty of promoting change are really rare. In the 1960s, the vigorous "affirmative action movement" won nominal equality for African Americans institutionally, but today, more than 60 years later, true equality is still far away. An African-American mother said she worries about her son's life every day, and there will be many, many years of tears, prayers and protests before African-American parents and siblings can sleep peacefully.