Minnesota Attorney General Calls Chauvin Guilty Verdict ‘First Step’ Toward Justice

Minutes after the three guilty verdicts against former officer Derek Chauvin were read aloud in court Tuesday, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison thanked the public, saying he was grateful to have been given the space to pursue justice “wherever it led.”

He said the guilty verdicts against Chauvin for killing George Floyd last May were the culmination of “long, hard, painstaking work.” But he said Tuesday’s outcome, after three weeks of testimony, should not be called justice.

“I would not call today’s verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration,” Ellison said. “But it is accountability, which is the first step towards justice, and now the cause of justice is in your hands.”