NORFOLK, Va. — It’s the moment people anxiously watched for all across the country -- a verdict in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
Tuesday, a U.S. jury found Chauvin guilty on all charges for the murder of George Floyd.
People across the country are still processing the significance of the verdict.
Cooper Dawson, a college student at Old Dominion University is one of them.
“Regardless of who you are your actions have consequences,” said Cooper.
Dr. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, a Professor of History and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Norfolk State University said the verdict is a significant point in history.
“The expectation for yesterday’s trial was that the police officer would have been acquitted of all of the charges,” said Newby-Alexander. “History has shown us that almost no police officers have been found guilty of killing an African American.”
Moses Franklin, a junior at ODU said he was surprised by the ruling.
“I was shocked, but it was deserving of it. You gotta take accountability for your actions,” said Franklin.
A new IPSOS poll found most Americans agreed Chauvin was guilty. Among Americans surveyed, agreed with the verdict. The poll also found most Americans surveyed followed at least some coverage of the three-week trial.
Newby-Alexander said the ruling is the beginning of a possible shift.
“I think it is going to start a lot of reform,” said Newby-Alexander. “We’re at a critical mass period in American history, and it’s not like the 1990’s where there was violence, it’s not like the early 2000’s we are in 2021. It takes about 20 years to get into a new country, and the decision has to be by people both black and white is that we’re going to stop this kind of behavior and ongoing violence,” said Newby-Alexander.
“This is the beginning of our long journey to real change. After 400 years, it’s time,” said Newby-Alexander.