SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – The verdict was a victory for many Utahns.
Some say it has changed hearts; others say there is still much to be done.
“George Floyd left a huge legacy,” says Jacarri Kelly of Black Lives Matter Northern Utah.
She says Tuesday’s verdict against former officer Derek Chauvin was a turning point for the country.
The jury finds Derek Chauvin guilty
“It’s a festival, it also gives you the determination to keep moving forward,” adds Kelly.
In order to move forward, many remember the past.
Jeanetta Williams, president of the NAACP Salt Lake office, tells us, “With today’s verdict, it has been a day to celebrate to say that all of this hard work we’ve put in for years and years to finally reach a verdict felling a police officer. “
“I think you know Chauvin was wrong,” says James Sullivan with Civilized Awakening.
Sullivan says the case and personal affairs made him look at himself.
“I thought what would have happened if we’d just listened to the other side,” he says. “I’ve had a few opportunities over the summer, especially everything that happened to my brother John [Sullivan]to take a step back and see the various issues we discussed that are hot topics. “
These are hot topics, says Sullivan, that have divided the country.
Utah leaders speak out on Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict
“George Floyd at the end of the day, everyone says a black man lost his life, at the end of the day an American lost his life. That should be a discussion that we as human beings, as fellow Americans, should be able to have, ”he says.
It is a discussion that could lead to a new future.
“There is work we can do together to find a way forward to restore public confidence and restore the law enforcement integrity that is repeatedly lost when these high-profile police brutality continue to emerge,” the said Utah Valley University Assistant Professor of Social Work Lashawn Williams.
In Utah, work is being postponed to create new bills and logs that will help improve relations with law enforcement agencies.
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