How Tim Walz helped make it possible to get justice for George Floyd
The Minnesota governor made a bold and usual move after police officer Derrick Chauvin put his knee on George Floyd's neck. Now as Vice President Kamala Harris' pick for her presidential ticket, Gov. Tim Walz will face scrutiny from Republicans and the conservative right over his handling of the the protests.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ new vice presidential ticket pick is a governor who played a significant role in getting the officer who murdered George Floyd held accountable.
After Floyd, 46, was tragically killed by police officer Derrick Chauvin, in 2020 during an encounter outside a convenience store in Minneapolis, the nation erupted in protest.
During this crisis, it was Governor Tim Walz who took a bold and unusual step of taking the case away from the county prosecutor— and giving it to the state’s attorney general Keith Ellison.
Local activists celebrated the move, as many worried that the county prosecutor, Mike Freeman couldn’t be relied upon to try the case fairly— and they expressed concern that Freeman took four days to bring charges for Chauvin.
Governor Walz reportedly made the decision to escalate the case to the state after talking with George Floyd’s family, according to The Associated Press. Chauvin was ultimately sentenced to over 20 years in prison.
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“I gained personal respect for him in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death, when he reached out to the Floyd family on multiple occasions – and later to the family of Daunte Wright, and used his position to advocate for passage of police reform legislation,” says Attorney Ben Crump, as reported by Newsweek.
In a recent interview with theGrio, Keith Ellison told journalist April Ryan, that voters “will like” Walz.
But some Republicans and other critics have already starting attacking Walz over his response during the George Floyd protests in Minnesota. Because Walz didn’t immediately call in the National Guard at the request of city officials, Walz’s opponents say he let the city burn during the unrest.
It’s a line of attack that will pick up especially as they seek to paint Walz as an extreme radical liberal— and not the beloved former school teacher and coach who signed free breakfast and lunch laws into effect as governor.
Watch the full video above.
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