The Trauma of George Floyd’s Death Still Reverberates

As the trial of Derek Chauvin for George Floyd’s death comes to its conclusion this week, against a backdrop of additional police violence, many African Americans still feel the trauma of police violence.

While the trial of police officer Chauvin has moved forward, at least, two other people of color have been gunned down by police. Duante Wright in Minnesota and a 13 year-old Latino Adam Toledo in Chicago.

The other cases amp up even higher the desires in the Black Community for guilty verdicts in the Chauvin case, says Gayle Williams-Beyers, the first black judge of the South Euclid Ohio Municipal Court.

On this episode of WOUB’s Spectrum podcast, Judge Byers and host and former judge Tom Hodson break down the Chauvin trial. They examine prosecution strategies and defense positions in terms that non-lawyers can understand.

They discuss the importance of this trial and the anticipated verdicts on the future of policing and race relations.

Judge Byers also expresses the frustrations she feels that while one trial is transpiring, other incidents of police violence keep happening.

She also notes that the Chauvin trial has prompted a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in many African Americans. She says it has been like reliving the horror of George Floyd’s and other deaths all over again.

She says it has caused major anxiety in black families – especially those that have young black sons. Mothers fear for their sons’ safety and fear that old precautions no longer can prevent unwarranted police attacks.