The Justice Department is opening a sweeping investigation into policing practices in Minneapolis after a former officer was convicted in the killing of George Floyd there, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Wednesday.
The announcement comes a day after former officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death last May, setting off a wave of relief but also sadness across the country. The death prompted months of mass protests against policing and the treatment of Black people in the U.S.
The Justice Department was already investigating whether Chauvin and the other officers involved in Floyd’s death violated his civil rights.
We check in on the latest from Minneapolis, recap the verdict and its legal implications and look ahead to what this means for the future of police reform. And we want to hear from you about how you’re processing the verdict, what you’re feeling and what you want to see next. Call us at 866-893-5722.
With files from the Associated Press.
Guests:
Nina Moini, reporter at Minnesota Public Radio News; she co-hosted the MPR podcast “In Front of Our Eyes,” which followed the Chauvin trial; she tweets
Brian Dunn, civil rights and criminal defense attorney and managing partner at The Cochran Firm California, based in Los Angeles, where he specializes in police misconduct cases; he tweets
Cheryl Dorsey, retired sergeant with the Los Angeles Police Department who served for 20 years from 1980-2000; she tweets
Thaddeus Johnson, associate professor of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University and a former ranking law enforcement official in Memphis, Tennessee; he tweets
Anita Chabria, staff writer covering California state politics and policy for the Los Angeles Times, she’s been covering police reform efforts; she tweets