How Are Vermonters Feeling About The Chauvin Verdict? Here's What You Told Us

“Watching the verdict, I had several reactions all at once. I was so relieved and grateful for the conviction. It was a moment of absolute accountability that many, many other people who've lost their lives at the hands of the police have never been granted. And I wasn't entirely sure the country could survive an acquittal. And it seemed like there was a huge collective longing being met. This was accountability. Real justice is still quite a ways off.”

“I'm feeling incredibly relieved about the verdict, but at the same time, that feels ridiculous to have to be relieved over something that should have been so cut and dry. The entire nation saw George Floyd get murdered, and yet it was still up in the air as to whether or not Derek Chauvin would be found guilty. This is the bare minimum, right? And this is absolutely the bare minimum, that people would be held accountable for murder. I hope — I'm trying to be hopeful that this is a step in the right direction, and that it means there will be some change and accountability in policing. But I don't think it's justice. I think George Floyd is still dead. I think real justice will only come when the BIPOC community doesn't have to be afraid of police, when they're not killed at such an outrageous rate. When you just think about all the people who have been killed since George Floyd, even just recently, even just when the verdict was being read, a young woman was murdered by police in Ohio, right? A 16-year-old. It feels relieving that he was found guilty, but at the same time, it's such a low bar. It's such a low bar. So trying to remain hopeful.”

“When I saw the Chauvin verdict, I felt relieved, I think. We've seen other cases like this that should have come to the same conclusion and did not. It's obviously not a happy feeling. No matter what the verdict is, there's still a man that was murdered, but there's a hopeful feeling, that hopefully things will change in the near future.”

“I'm not feeling relief today. I'm feeling like a breath I've been holding for a year, I've finally been able to exhale it. And the irony of that statement is not lost on me. The irony that George Floyd was not allowed the same privilege of exhaling is not lost on me. I see a lot of my friends, most of whom are white, celebrating on social media today. And I get that, I get this feels like a win, but a consequence for inaction is not a win. We lost Ma’Khiah Bryant 20 minutes before the verdict was read, in Ohio, by police officer involved violence. And the systemic problems that we have in this country relating to policing, the exorbitant amount of control that police unions have over our justice system, hasn't been ameliorated at all. And until those things happen, I don't feel like I can feel relief. I don't feel like any of us should be celebrating, because this fight is so far from over. And I know I'm tired, and I know that the people of color in my life who I love are tired. And I hope that this is a precedent. And it's not just a figurehead.”