fbpx
Skip to Content

NATIONAL FAITH LEADER ON CHAUVIN SENTENCING: TRUE JUSTICE WON’T COME UNTIL WE END WHITE SUPREMACY, DEFUND POLICE

NATIONAL FAITH LEADER ON CHAUVIN SENTENCING: 

TRUE JUSTICE WON’T COME UNTIL WE END WHITE SUPREMACY, DEFUND POLICE

Faith in Public Life Calls for Ongoing Justice in Black Communities in Wake of Chauvin Sentencing

Washington, DC—As Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison today, Faith in Public Life released the statement of its CEO, Rev. Jennifer Butler:

“My faith tells me that God desires justice for all of us. This includes George Floyd and everyone killed at the hands of the police — an injustice disproportionately inflicted upon African Americans. I recognize today’s sentence as an important step toward accountability for George Floyd’s murder. 

“But we all know that this isn’t true justice. Justice would be George Floyd still alive and hugging his children. Justice is a policing and criminal justice system that everyone, including Black families, can believe will serve and treat them with equal dignity — in every case, not just the ones that spark nationwide protests. Justice is communities where Black people and people of color can simply exist in without fear.

“We know real justice won’t come until we end the white supremacy that allows someone to believe he can literally take another person’s life, in the full view of a crowd, with impunity. In order to make this sentencing meaningful and lasting, we dismantle the systems that made George Floyd’s death possible: By defunding police and ending white supremacy.”

###

Faith in Public Life is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good. Together, with a network of over 50,000 leaders, they are leading the fight to advance just policies at the state and federal level that affirms our values and the human dignity of all.

Back to top